


Allegories, or Allusions to Real Life

by czechia



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Miscommunication, Slow Burn, Star Wars Modern AU, aka Rey is an eavesdropper and can't help but judge based on first impressions, there's also D&D so please them rolling dice and shit, they're streaming ur honor... let them bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29233671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/czechia/pseuds/czechia
Summary: “Boys, please stop arguing.” Rose rubbed her temples.“Poe, we get it, you’re childhood best buddies, you’ve got a better grasp on his character than some rando of a rando you met at a party. Finn, for fuck’s sake, we’ve been working with Ben for months. I’m pretty sure if he’s a serial killer or whatever, it would have come out by now.”Finn sat back in his seat, grumbling. “Not how serial killers work.”Rey was going to have a headache if this continued any longer, so she lied through her teeth at the reality of a new player joining their D&D party. "He seems nice." She didn’t trust a single inch of skin on that man. "I'm sure it'll be fine."
Relationships: Finn/Rose Tico, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rose - Relationship
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21
Collections: To Find Your Kiss: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maq_moon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maq_moon/gifts).



> Love, as always, to my beta, TearoomSaloon both on here and Tumblr! This fic quite literally wouldn't be here without her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For maq_moon as a part of To Find Your Kiss: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange!

**#WEC hashtag on Twitter**

  


Wizards of the East Coast @WEC

Tn we’re going to continue w/last week’s tracking of the Rose Knight..where did she come from where did she go? Where did she come from Knight of Rose? 🌹 #WEC

  


Harry @harriet3829

Replying to @WEC

you know we always stan Rose here 🌹🌹🌹🌹 #justmaybenotherknights #WEC

  


Porkchop 🥩 **🔪 🔪** @capitalismdeathass

Replying to @WEC

Tell me one good reason they can’t just go back to Valenus’ house, scry on the knight, and solve this thing right here and now? #WEC

  


🚑 EmEt 🚑 (he/them) @ememem1

Replying to @WEC and @capitalismdeathass

u kno that this is for fun,,,,, right????? also she’s on like another continent.........

  


🏳️🌈 Jackie 🏳️🌈 @transangerequalstranspower

Replying to @WEC

me getting settled in to binge rewatch the whole series after watching this livestream #WEC

  


  


“What do you know about the knight in red who passed through here yesterday?” Rey fixed her gaze on Rose who, at the head of their table, was hidden behind the DM screen and a stack of rarely-consulted rulebooks. 

Clockwise around her sat Finn, Rose, and Poe, illuminated by studio lights just out of the camera’s frame. The walls behind them were covered with tiles styled like cobbled stone walls, LED backlights currently red to mimic the intensity of the scene at hand. Fully lost in the D&D mindset, Rey hardly noticed the set-up, the cameras, the sound booth—the production team had transformed Wizards of the East Coast from a game night with friends into a world that lived outside the limitations of their own.

“I suppose I could tell you a bit about that...” Rose lowered her voice into a gruff, rugged tone and leant onto the table. She pressed her weight down on her elbow, causing the wood to groan as she took on the role of the tavern owner, a wizened male tiefling. Raising an eyebrow, she set her jaw determinately . “Depends on what you have to offer.”

Rey frowned at the proposition and looked to the rest of the party, mentally rifling through their inventory. They had managed to collect numerous magic items, but gold? They were broke from investing it all back in Scafea to construct a fortified castle on a nicely-sized plot of land they'd been endowed by the current King of Cassovia—

“We know where the Queen of Cassovia is currently hiding,” Poe supplied as the human Bard Ozsar Bronzeflare, graduate of the College of Oxonia, next in line to the Duchy of Vinovia, Hero of Vitrex, yadda yadda. His voice took on an intense timbre, imploring listeners to lean a little closer to the edges of their seats. “You must have heard that King Ferrin is looking for her across all of the lands. There’s a bounty on her head for 100,000 gold and a stipulation that you’ll be knighted and given the position of one of his most—”

“Why don’t you go get her yourselves and claim the reward?" Rose tipped her chin down. “‘Specially seeing how broke you all are.”

“Because we’ve got other pressing matters, like that red knight.” 

“And you think I don't? I’ve got this old shack to keep in order.”

“You could hire someone to go find her for you.”

“ _The tavern owner looks you up and down and—”_ Rose assumed a more neutral expression. ”Let me roll a perception check.” The clinking of metal dice gave Rey a chance to exchange a look with Poe. “ _He seems to linger on the grime and gristle absolutely caked on all of your gear, from the dried blood on your boots to the strange burn marks that seem to creep up your hands, Octavia_ . _He snorts and then shakes his head._ You have no idea what you’re even talking about, do you? What idiot in their right mind would go fetch a bounty for 100,000 gold only to be paid a paltry 2,000? Or do you think that I built this all with my own horde of gold that I’m just waiting to retire with?” 

Rey as Octavia, a wild sorcerer air genasi whose signature color was her bright orange clothes, sat up and gave Rose a determined look. “ _Octavia rolls her sleeves up, showing off the burns_ . You think that we have _time_ to waste? If we can’t find and behead the Queen ourselves, then we at least want someone from this area of the world to do it. We would rather have those fanatics and warmongers from Redia get her than some idiot from feeble-minded land like Lissus.” 

Rose cokced her head and motioned to Rey. “Roll for persuasion.”

“What about intimidation?” Finn asked. “Ysabelle is there and she’s fairly intimidating.”

Rey gave him an appreciative glance despite knowing the answer; Ysabelle, Finn’s tiefling Great Old One Warlock, could hardly scare a fly.

Rose shrugged. “Is Octavia trying to scare this man into taking the offer, or to give the information to avoid being hurt?” 

“She might be a loose cannon but erm, no, not right now.” Rey rolled her d20 and bit off the curse forming on her lips. The stream might love when she cursed, but management did not. “Five.” 

“Don’t you have a plus four?” Poe peeked over to her character sheet.

“Yeah.” 

He sucked in a breath. “ _Ouch_.” 

“Could I get advantage because Ozsar and Ysabelle are with me?” 

Rose gave Rey a knowing yet amused look. “Are they doing anything?”

“No...” 

Rose flashed a shite-eating grin before readopting the tavern owner’s posture. “I have a family to feed, I’m not leaving this establishment to be taken advantage of by grungy, down-on-their-luck travelers like you lot _. He crosses his arms and you notice a fresh tattoo peeking from underneath the sleeves of his faded blue tunic._ ”

“Can I roll perception?” Finn asked.

“Me too,” said Poe.

“Have at it!”

Octavia rolled the highest of the group with a twenty-one and Rey listened intently as Rose described a faded yet distinctive tattoo of a lightning bolt. It was one they’d seen on other members of the Cosmic Collision, a nefarious organization set on ravaging the area in the name of their leader Cyamus of Nymphaion. They were also the ones sponsoring the Red Knight’s massacres, and likely to turn the party in as soon as they let their guard down.

Rey already knew what Finn was going to say.

“Ysabelle is going to cast polymorph on the tavern owner,” Finn beamed. 

“You know that the tavern is filled with the typical evening crowd and they’ve all been listening intently to your conversation, right?” Rose asked. 

“Yeah.”

“Alright, let’s roll initiative.” 

  
  


“I think it’ll be good, shake things up, you know?” Rose smiled, hopeful.

Rey tapped her pen on the table and did her best to give a convincing smile in return. They were nestled in the back corner of their local coffee shop, small, warm, and familiar with some booths and comfortable seating, it played host to many meetings discussing the outcomes of sessions, the general plans moving forward, and countless not-so-subtle attempts at bribing Rose into giving them more hints about exactly who was the figurehead of the Cosmic Collision. Although it had been months since they transitioned from a cobbled-together D&D game in their favorite bar to a more professional setup, post-game chats and discussions never failed to maintain the same sense of wonder and excitement. 

Poe, in his oversized sunglasses and ill-fitting gray beanie, managed to call more attention to himself as he gathered the table into a huddle. He might have been a B-list celebrity, but his attempts to hide himself from the public eye had the spirit of an A-lister afraid of being mobbed at the drop of a hat. His unfortunately comical disguises were fortunately unnecessary, but his effort was appreciated nonetheless.

“Look, I’ve known him for practically my whole life,” Poe said in a hushed tone. “He's a nice guy, it’s going to be fun. I know we got burned with-”

“Do _not_ mention his fucking name,” Finn muttered darkly. 

Poe rolled his eyes, action invisible behind his shades. “I made one small judgement error, sue me.”

“So you admit to making a mistake in the past, but now it’s different?”

“Boys, please stop arguing.” Rose rubbed her temples. “Poe, we get it, you’re childhood best buddies, you’ve got a better grasp on his character than some rando of a rando you met at a party. Finn, for fuck’s sake, we’ve been working with Ben for _months._ I’m pretty sure if he’s a serial killer or whatever, it would have come out by now.”

Finn sat back in his seat, grumbling. “Not how serial killers work.”

Rey was going to have a headache if this continued any longer, so she lied through her teeth. "He _seems_ nice." She didn’t trust a single inch of skin on that man. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

“It’s been in the works for ages, it’s not like I’m springing this on you at the last minute.” Poe started down into his black coffee. “We’ve got two weeks until he’s going to join us for his first session. Do you think we should have like, I dunno, a family gathering beforehand? So that you can see that he doesn't eat babies or whatever you two are insinuating?"

Rey listened as they began suggesting ideas for bonding experiences; the axe-throwing bar in Brooklyn where Rose and Rey had met, the roller rink where Poe swore he was a star skater, and a handful of museums Finn had been trying to convince them to visit.

“What if we tried something D&D inspired?” Rey offered, painfully aware she’d yet to contribute to the conversation. “We could check out that place near to Washington Square Park, what’s it called?”

“The Uncommons?” Rose supplied.

An outing was in the works almost immediately. Rose was figuring out logistics, balancing their work hours with events that people — namely Poe — had already committed to. Poe joined in on the planning, mentioning information on the area as well as restaurants he was dying to visit.

Finn nudged Rey’s drink with his own, the gentle clinking drawing her attention from Rose and Poe’s energetic planning> “This is gonna be fun; exploring a new shop, getting some new minis for Rose—”

“Not that she needs more,” Rey said in a hushed whisper. 

“Hey!” Rose broke from her conversation with Poe. “I heard that!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Finn waved her off. His expression turned thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe Ben won’t suck?”

“I’m still banking on serial killer material. I think it’ll really drive up those numbers when one of us gets killed on video.”

“Morbid, but I like how you think. It could even fit in with Harker’s whole angsty grave cleric vibe since he already dresses in all black.”

“Harker? _”_

“Ben’s character. You know, half-elf grave cleric?”

“Oh. Haven't seen much of the Villains of the East Coast.” 

“Really?" Finn gave her an incredulous look. 

Rose perked up at Finn’s tone. "If you don't watch anything else of theirs, you should see the latest episode, it’ll give you an idea of what he’s like. Think of it as required reading for future sessions.” She went back to her argument with Poe about if a 4PM lunch was allowed to be called... _linner?_

Rey shook her head and turned back to Finn. “Poe thought he knew what _Jack_ was like.”

“How about this: if he’s a serial killer or worse, we get to kick his ass out ourselves, just the two of us?”

“Live on stream?” 

“You think that our sponsors will like that?” 

“If we get the right one.”

  


While Rey enjoyed her friends’ company, there was something undeniably satisfying about leaving the entering her flat and being allowed to have her own space to think. Warm, with plenty of light coming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the far wall of her studio, it was a sanctuary unto itself from the rush that typically consumed her days. She dumped her things on her couch in her living room and pretended that doing so was more organized than throwing it straight on the floor as she wanted to. Although she didn’t have a dog like Poe, she did have a myriad of plants which stared at her from their perch on her kitchen’s counters, the result of a weekend trip with Rose to a plant nursery. Some of her children were in the pots that she’d purchased them in, others had been repotted in containers which were either too large or too small, but all stared at her in the same pleading manner, begging for water.

She watered them without further pleading and soon went about winding down, attempting and failing to resist the urge to think of all the possible disastrous ways Wizards of the East Coast would change with the addition of _Ben_. Their weekly D&D game had started as something that she, Rose, Finn, and Poe would hold at On Now Bar and Lounge, their favorite bar in Manhattan. The stakes had been low and it had been less tedious to remove an unwanted member and later, to move shop to a new location. Now, with tens of thousands of people consistently watching their streams and videos on demand, or VODS, for a little over nine months, it would be impossible to integrate his character into the group dynamics without royally fucking them over. This was made especially worse by their newest player also being a villain in their sister campaign’s narrative. 

When they’d first started streaming, she’d bragged to her therapist that she was an internet celebrity on the same level as Poe, that people would stop her on the street and ask her to sign their Tv Digest. Not that anyone had any of those anymore, and not that it had really made sense, but at least Hannah had laughed. She’d also brought up that Poe managed to secure extra funding from thin air and how it helped Rey supplement her ludicrously high rent - something she’d known she was getting into when signing a lease for a studio in Midtown, especially on the sixth floor walkup. Work she could handle; it was hardly anything more than the hours she’d put into working as a server while clawing her way through her degree; she’d only managed to get the job that had brought her to the US due to a connection through one of her past professors. Slaving away for the corporate machine she could do; rent hikes, she could not.

Wizards of the East Coast helped in more ways than one and Poe always was always making more and more profit by wrangling various sponsorship deals, even those that there seemed to be no logical connection to D&D in general. The biggest and strangest had been made with Poe’s company; three months after they started recording in a poorly-lit and cheaply-decorated. If they let one of the managers sit in to monitor, they were free to use studio space at Poe's work. Despite the benefits that the deal was planned to bring in, and how it had paid off in the end, Rey had seen it for what it was: corporate babysitting that came in the form of one pompous Benjamin Solo.

Serving as one of the audio and visual directors / coordinators and also a project manager outside of Wizards of the East Coast, Ben had always remained behind the cameras with the other audio and stream coordinator in their little booth; as far as she knew, his actual job involved more management-related things somewhere in R Reporting. Rey struggled to recall a single moment when he’d looked interested in the party's antics. Maybe when Rose killed Rey's NPC longtime crush, Bernard? But that had been so unexpected for all of them, including Rose, that it almost left their DM in tears from shock.

Finally lying down in bed with an apple — paltry attempt to be healthy — Rey recalled the passion with which Rose had gushed about adding a new player, about the new dynamics, new plotlines, and new possibilities. She still felt the pit in the bottom of her stomach as contempt and guilt continued to line her thoughts regarding… _Ben_. He was… fine. Okay, she could tell herself. Probably not a serial killer. They hadn’t played together, though he was one of the stars of the once-a-month one-shot villains' series that R Reporting had created. Their whole schtick was that they were doing activities in the same world as Wizards of the East Coast’s and causing chaos behind the scenes, in ways that were sometimes related to Wizards of the East Coast’s adventures but they usually went about doing their own dastardly deeds. From her friend’s comments, Ben had apparently taken it up with a passion. Yet when it came to sitting in on Wizards of the East Coast’s campaign, he always appeared to be bored out of his mind, a stoic and unreadable expression on his face, even when they were at the climax of a story arc. 

Her phone lit up with a message from Wizards of the East Coast’s group chat, which was typically filled with the dankest of memes and questions about when they were meeting next. Named d&d (dinguses & dick jokes), the previous shitposts were quickly replaced with a series of incoming texts.

Ben had been added. 

**[DM (Dick Master)]** : hi Ben! ✨

**[Ysabelle]** : Hey! Welcome!

**[Ozsar]** : yooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

**[Octavia]** : Hi!

**[Ben]** : hello everyone

**[Ozsar]** : 

**[Ysabelle]** : What 

**[Ozsar]** : fuck i swear that was meant to be

**[DM (Dick Master)]** : 🎉🎉🎉🎉

**[Ysabelle]** :

**[Ysabelle]** : Is that what you meant to send?

**[DM (Dick Master)]** : omg

**[Ben]** : thanks for adding me 

Rey set the phone down as the conversation fell further into shitposting and memes. She turned her phone on silent, only checking a half an hour later to find a separate text from Rose.

**[Rose]** : [212-XXX-XXXX] - Ben’s number

She was already mutuals with Ben on Twitter as a part of the official ‘joining’ and had said hello in the group chat, did she really need his number? What would they even talk about? Work? Like he even knew enough about engineering to keep up with her. She _certainly_ didn't know fuckall about video production and sound mixing. 

**[Rose]** : text him please 

**[Rose]** : i told him that we’d all be reaching out to him

**[Rose]** : ask him about Harker

**[Rose]** : 🥺

**[Rose]** : i promise he’s nice

Rey stared at the contact card for a few more moments. She barely knew him and could not think of a single topic that wouldn't sound like forced socializing.. Not to mention the last time they had spoken at any length of time things had gone… _Poorly._

  


Poe had been angling to host some sort of networking mixer and he’d jumped at Rey's suggestion for a charity gala for Children’s Rights, a group that was involved with keeping children safe and healthy, whether they were in the foster care system or were being monitored by a government agency. While she hadn’t been in the US’s foster system, she’d taken pains to keep her days of foster home hopping in the UK from anyone she didn’t absolutely have to. And, keeping with that sentiment, she'd never mentioned it to Poe, or any of the group. It had been heartwarming, however, to see him genuinely interested in the legal action that Children Rights took against the states, working to make lasting change. 

Knowing everyone who was anyone in NYC, Rey had both floored at the extravagance yet unsurprised by the flourish when Poe had managed to book Norwood Club’s house for the evening. Because of their image and concern in arts and humanitarian projects, they’d happily agreed to host the gala once a handful of its members had put in good words. That, and the check he’d made out for the rental had helped.

It was a cocktail affair, with attire ranging from traditional little black dresses with strappy stilettos to fashion-forward styles and bright summery colors. Not wanting to draw attention to herself — and _woefully_ uninformed as to the nature of the clubhouse’s decor — she’d opted for a simple A-line dress and kitten heels, jewelry understated and plain. Which ironically made her stand out amid the contemporary artwork and saturated red walls on the fourth-floor bar which was _just_ what she needed on an evening that she’d barely managed to escape from work. 

Failing to find anyone she could begin to think of greeting, Rey took a moment to stand alone against the wall and watch as people mingled, moving back and forth across the lounge. Their conversations buzzed in the back of her mind, comforting in an isolated way. Turning her attention to the people themselves, she recognized a few people; mostly news anchors, mildly noteworthy TV personalities, and others who had fallen into Poe’s orbit in one way or another. 

“Hey! You made it!” Poe’s voice across the room cut through her thoughts. She turned around and spotted him through the jungle of plants surrounding the bar, overhead chandelier in the shape of an upside-down tree. Hidden in plain sight in the bustling, crowded room, and he gave a brisk hug to a far taller, much less jovial-looking man. Rey recognized those inky black curls before she could put a name to the unconventionally attractive face.

Ben Solo. He’d recently been introduced as the liaison between Wizards of the East Coast and R Reporting, though he had yet to sit in on any of their sessions. Their ‘introduction’ had been more of a group meeting in which he’d avoided making eye contact, as if he had better things to be doing. Previous misgivings aside, she found her gaze trailing the strong lines of his torso under the jacket of his navy suit, the cut of the garment emphasizing the trimness of his waist. Twisting locks of hair just brushed the collar of his shirt and she let a fleeting thought wonder about its softness. Moving to stand beside a tall potted fern, she used the cover of the wide, fan-shaped leaves to continue her spying, tracing the curve of his nose, the smile lines around his eyes when he-

Ben’s laugh pulled her from her reverie and she watched the men interact with the same sort of kinship that she had come to experience with her tightly knit friends. She knew that Poe and Ben had been close since they were children, growing up in the same neighborhood, but after seeing just _how_ close, she had to wonder why he never invited Ben to their late nights out and hungover brunches.

“So, Solo, will you be supporting my charity work tonight?” Poe’s voice left no question as to the intended answer. 

“I don’t know, maybe if the host can sell it to me.”

“Do you doubt his eloquence?”

Ben snorted. “Eloquence? Really?”

Rey cursed inwardly when he turned around, his warm brown eyes replaced by dark hair and the broadness of his back. She could cut herself on those shoulders, _fuck_. 

“Whether I’m eloquent or not, you can’t deny that it’s a noble cause. Did you know that on any given day, there are nearly 424,000 children in foster care in the United States?”

A pause. 

“Did you memorize that, Dameron?” 

“Yes, but I care. And you should too. You can afford to care, anyway. Besides, the raffle items are _pretty_ sweet if I do say so myself.” 

“I don’t know.” Ben shifted, his expression hidden. “You ever wonder if they’re better off without parents?”

Rey’s mouth contorted into frown and she looked to Poe, who was seemingly unfazed by the lackadaisical callousness.

He continued. “Seems to me like they're avoiding a whole bunch of headaches by dodging the whole shitty parent bullet right out of the gate.”

She rolled her eyes at his ignorance. He had _no_ idea what it was like to be in a hellish, foster system that would rather treat you as cargo to be stored than a human being to be nurtured. Pissed, she sought out King Dickhead after he’d parted from Poe, cornering him in, well, a corner. Tall as a giraffe, he was hard to miss, the black of his hair contrasting against the white canvas that spanned the wall behind him. When he spotted her approach, their eyes locked and the intensity of his gaze bored holes through her skull.

Whatever his reasoning, she was glad that Poe had left him out of their social circle. 

“Ben Solo?” she asked as she stopped before him.

“Yes.” His expression gave nothing away. “You’re Rey, on Wizards of the East Coast?”

“Yeah. I play Octavia, but that’s not relevant.” She wondered if he thought that staring would deter all who dared to approach. “I couldn’t help but overhear you and Poe joking a few minutes ago about foster kids being better off without parents?”

“Ah.” He bit his lips, demeanor flipping like a switch. “ _That._ ”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Maybe it’s poor form to eavesdrop but I can’t help but wonder—if you don’t care about the charity work, why are you here?”

Ben finished the remainder of his whisky, stare potent and unyielding. “Do you think people attend these sorts of things because they’re dying to support the cause? Sure, you’ll have a few out of touch and overly sympathetic samaritans, but the vast majority? It’s about status. Why do you think Dameron keeps putting himself on committees for galas and auctions and marathons?”

“Are you suggesting I’m _new_ here? That I don’t know about that aspect?”  
He leant down slowly, threateningly, like a lion lording over a kill. “What I am insinuating, my dear, is that you are naïve in thinking this is only for the sake of the children.”

She was left with her mouth ajar as he stepped around her, disappearing like smoke into the crowd. 

  


Rey regretted not telling Rose about what a bellend he’d been before they’d agreed to bring him on the team. Christ, she was mad thinking about it. Did he even _remember_ that evening? 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite the genuine happiness with which her friend had spoken about planning and integrating Harker, Rey couldn’t help but wonder why? He might care about his character, but only so far as he was good for evoking drama in a session; in a more frequent series like Wizards of the East Coast, she doubted that Harker would get very far considering how oblivious Ben was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love, as always, to my beta, TearoomSaloon both on here and Tumblr! This fic quite literally wouldn't be here without her.

**#WEC hashtag on Twitter**

Wizards of the East Coast @WEC

Yet another arm of the Crystal Queen’s following has been found, but where will this lead next??? #WEC

J @jackattack

Replying to @WEC

Okay but can we talk about how excited Rose got when she got to cast sunbeam on almost the entire party? That evil smile? Love her!!!! #bestdmever #WEC 

harles @harley1999

Replying to @WEC 

I know the team said that they don’t kill unless justified but like...... What about today? #WEC

Kai 🗑️🔇@hollabackshack

Replying to @harley1999 and @WEC

No One:

Absolutely No One:

Ozsar: I’m going to cast Vicious Mockery. #WEC

❤️ hot potato maid ❤️ @slyviasly

Replying to @WEC 

does anyone still remember bernard? we’ll never get to see him and octavia settle down... they were definitely supposed to be endgame #boctavia #WEC 

Jingle @jingleshits 

Replying to @thisshitshowusa and @WEC

what abt anya? she+octavia had =chemistry when they last met and everyone knows that 💨air genasi💨 + 🔥fire genasi🔥 = 🎆 #WEC 

Work was fine, that’s what Rey had told herself about committing to the endless hours that her firm, well the projects that she was working on, required. Rose’s text came in around when office people started work, which meant three hours after she had come into the office herself. Up since four tuck dealing with the logistical nightmare of where her firm’s client wanted some fountains to go, Rey was willing to take any reprieve that she could. Excusing herself, she could still hear phrases ‘water main’ and ‘redo the pipe layout’ echoing in her mind as she wandered down the hall of the client’s office to the bathroom and locked the door. A moment to breathe and a moment to check her messages on site, Rey pretended for a moment that there weren’t looming deadlines that were threatening to suffocate her. 

**[Rose]** : hey!! ben and I got done finalizing all the details about how Harker will fit in with everyone yesterday. he seems really chill!!💜

**[Rose]** : have u seen him play on Villains of the East Coast?

**[Rey]** : I think I caught half of one episode

**[Rey]:** Maybe just a quarter.......

**[Rose]** : he’s so GOOD at Harker!! and last session his character basically died but then came back and then realized he wanted to do something better with his life... like joining us on Wizards of the East Coast

**[Rey]** : I’ll have to check out the VOD of his last episode there. 

**[Rose]** : 💛💛💛

Rey closed her eyes and mimed a scream into her hands. Another text buzzed and she checked the group’s D&D chat.

**[Ben]** : Looking forward to playing this Friday

Her eyes glazed over as more messages poured in. Not that she’d admit it, but she  _ was  _ interested in what was going to happen once Harker was dropped in with everyone; she’d already talked to Rose about Octavia being particularly suspicious but didn’t know what Poe or Finn had planned. She had found it hard to explain the enthusiasm—the schadenfreude?—with which she’d watched the last episode of Villains of the East Coast. The way that he had a reckless disregard for his character up and until Harker was nearly dead, past zero and rolling to save his life, there was a sort of glee that came with seeing Ben struggle to compose himself. She wasn’t unaware that hate watching wasn’t productive, but it was, wasn’t it? She had to know who she was going to be playing with, his play style, his character, and how much he struggled at logistically thinking about how to run his character in combat. 

As much as she wished that she could be paid for sitting in the bathroom for the entirety of her shift, Rey found herself returning to work after several minutes; she didn’t need to give any one else more reasons to look down on her than they already had. It wasn’t until her lunch break that she was able to finish the episode that she’d begun, stuffing her face with her poor excuse of a sandwich as she sat hunched over, earbuds in. The hour early for the client’s staff, she was mostly alone in the white tiled room meant to evoke some sort of sterile minimalist vision, televisions on the wall behind her buzzing with market news and weather reports of rain, rain, and more rain. 

Mind still on the morning’s chat, Rey scanned through fan-compiled highlights of Harker’s  _ greatest moments _ . Jesus, it was mildly embarrassing how often he was rolling death saving throws, only since he had to be constantly brought back by Phasma’s oath of conquest paladin. While not the expert in all things D&D, Rey still had managed to make sure that her character’s relevant stats were buffed, that she’d chosen spells that complemented the rest of the part. Ben’s choices, however, lacked any sort of thought as he threw his character around and then acted surprised when the consequences bit him in the arse. 

Despite the genuine happiness with which her friend had spoken about planning and integrating Harker, Rey couldn’t help but wonder  _ why? _ He might care about his character, but only so far as he was good for evoking drama in a session; in a more frequent series like Wizards of the East Coast, she doubted that Harker would get very far considering how oblivious Ben was. 

Work was... work. Every time that she thought that she had found something to make the client satisfied, she was talked over, ignored, or just generally wrong. She would return with something new, better, and, well, the challenge itself of finding a way to please all parties was at once envirograting and maddening. She had gone into civil engineering for those exact reasons and still, she found herself going mad the miracles she was expected to produce. 

Work ended up releasing its grasp on her too late and braindead to humor the idea of going out with Rose or the boys, so she’d gone home, and promptly wrapped herself in the duvet in and cocooned herself in an endless Netflix binge of the Office. Not like she was actually paying attention to what was happening, she hadn’t been sure of the actual plot for the last two seasons, but she needed something that let her mind wander. And then she could claim that she’d seen the American version as well. 

It was 1AM when Netflix prompted her if she would like to continue watching, which she declined. Laptop finally silenced, the room covered was illuminated in streaks of light from the city that poured in through her blinds as the spring rain pattered evenly against the window. In a bid for  _ something _ to think about that would allow her to procrastinate sleep even further, she scrolled through her texts across all platforms, from the Tweets that Wizards of the East Coast’s official account had released about Harker’s addition, to the enthusiastic responses, to her own friend’s texts. 

It was absurd how interested and excited people were, from those who were touting it as a redemption arc, to others who thought that maybe he would end up betraying the party. And of course there were the same fan-compilations that Rey had watched earlier that were making the rounds, praising his role playing ability, his investment in his character, his strategy in combat. It made Rey want to laugh; it was clear that Ben had barely played before he’d joined Villains of the East Coast. Or had he? And he’d never learned?

She couldn’t imagine him having friends — besides Poe — before joining Villains of the East Coast, and so the whole premise was... The idea of him having experience and yet still making the same mistakes time and time again, just because he could, niggled in the back of her mind even after she set her phone down and closed her eyes. It wormed its way into her attempts at thinking about the Office, of the weather outside, of work tomorrow. God. **  
** **[Rey]** : Have you, like, ever played D&D before Villains of the East Coast?

Shite, it was well after midnight. Fuck. Whatever. He would get back to her in the morning.

**[Ben]** : yeah, a few one-shots here and there

**[Rey]:** Why the fuck are you still up?

**[Ben]** : holy shit

**[Ben]** : you texted me, I should be asking you that.

There was a pause, with too many minutes passing as she tried to come up with an answer that would make sense. Something quippy. Something smart. Something that wouldn’t betray exactly how much she was overthinking it all.

**[Ben]** : why do you care?

**[Rey]** : Because you play like a total novice

**[Rey]** : And it’s ridiculous you’re joining our group

**[Ben]** : lmao

**[Ben]** : you do z e r o combat prep, don’t throw stones when you own a glass house

**[Ben]** : some of us adults have to work in the morning, and I’ve got no interest in listening to more petty insults

**[Ben]** : goodnight sourpuss~ 

The thoughts that had wormed their way into her skull now firmly cemented there as she dropped the phone, her mind buzzing with the possibilities of her previous groups and how exactly he might’ve fucked them over. That, and his outright bullshite behavior that came out of nowhere; she might have been texting him late at night, but her questions were genuine, as was her curiosity. It would have come up sometime or another, he had yet he had to-

Her phone lit up with some message — not from Ben — and she shoved it under her pillow. It was going to be fine, right? She could help Rose manage whatever the hell Harker managed to get up to; it wasn’t like it could change  _ everything _ .

“So is your name  _ just _ Harker?” Poe asked in character, tone rising and falling in a melodic manner that was sometimes compared to an Elvis impersonation. 

It was the first session with Ben actually sitting with them as a part of the party, and Rey was caught between hating the fact that he was sitting  _ right next to her _ despite her protests and the facing the texts that she’d send two nights prior. She was forced to listen as he spoke in a level-headed and collected manner, both in character and out, and face the fact that she had no ammunition to use against him, nothing to justify the resentment that bubbled up when she looked at him. He was patient, always attentive to what was going on even when it didn’t involve him, and was even taking fucking notes. She had to keep reminding herself they were live and the audience could see all the daggers she kept glaring in his direction. To add insult to graver injury, when they checked the live chat during their mid-session break, everyone  _ loved _ him and was hanging on to his every word.

Ben shrugged, relaxing into a more slouched posture that signalled he was playing Harker. “Yes. They used to call me Harker of the Fire, though.”

“Hey,” Finn bumped Rey with his shoulder. “Octavia is also someone who has a history with fire.” 

She grimaced at the comparison and schooled her features into a more pointed annoyance that Octavia had been sporting. “ _ Octavia pulls her cloak’s sleeves over her hands and looks away before speaking.  _ We’re nothing alike.” She looked away as well, taking care to avoid whatever facial expression Ben was supplying. 

“How am I supposed to shout your name in combat?” Finn asked, clearly not interested in humoring Rey’s tone.

Ben tipped his head. “What do you mean?”

“Do you have a nickname? We’ve got ‘tavia for, and I can be Bell instead of Ysabelle.”

“What about Ozsar’s?”

Finn frowned. “He doesn’t do nicknames.”

Poe saw this as an opening. “Maybe Hark?” 

“As in ‘Hark! Who goes there?’” Finn asked.

The conversation quickly devolved into jokes and name calling, which Rose quietly ushered back towards the next objective: using Harker’s new information to track down the Red Knight. Rey allowed herself to lean into her character’s suspicions about Ben’s motivations for the rest of the session, occasionally questioning why he’d left the Crystal Queen’s Enforcers yet somehow expected the party’s mercy and trust. At first he offered very piecemeal answers, Harker appeasing everyone else in the party.

Except Octavia. 

“I was told that you’re one of the few people in the kingdom that are actually changing the ways that the royalty look at common people,” Harker responded to Finn’s prodding. “I might not make it to the end of your attempt to reinstate the rightful heir, but playing a part in ending the tyranny that counts and barons inflict upon their serfs is enough for me.” 

A stiff but thoughtful silence descended in the room.

“Well,” Poe finally broke the uneasy tension. “I guess we can work with that.” 

Sappy speeches did little to penetrate her distrust. Still doubtful, she made accidental eye contact with Ben. The intensity of his stare rammed right through her skull, as if he were able to tear apart her thoughts with a look. She felt goosebumps prickle up her arms.

“Remember that Harker met you all on foot, and you’ve got three horses between the four of you and it’s a long way to Oricos.” Rose’s devious grin was undoubtedly aimed at Rey and she hated how her friend knew exactly what to do to push her buttons.

“I paid a fortune for Smoke,” Finn resisted.

“Mine’s too old, remember? That’s how I got Kingblazer VI so cheap.” Poe turned the same wicked, scheming grin at Rey. “Harker, you’re going to have to ride with Octavia.”

Eyes around the table shifted towards the odd pair and Rey huffed. “ _ Octavia gets on her horse and looks at the rest of the party, then Harker. _ ” Rey begrudgingly tipped her head in a less-than-welcome invitation. “Hark, get up here.” 

Oscar lead the small caravan, followed by Ysabelle, and then the Octavia and Harker who Rose described as leaning as far apart from one another as possible so much so that they both had to do a dexterity check before the session ended as they headed off in the direction of the Red Knight.

As they wrapped, Rey continued to avoid glancing in Ben’s general vicinity as much as she could. Not, she told herself, for any discernible reason; she simply had too much to shove back in her bag. Like dice. And a player’s handbook that she always brought, just in case. And her water bottle. Really, she had to pare it down.

Nearly sprinting from the studio, not caring if she neglected to say goodbye to her friends, she caught Finn giving her an odd look as she hurtled herself towards the glass office doors and the hallway outside. He followed hastily, jamming an arm in the closing lift doors. There was an unreadable stiffness in his face that she had to attribute to-

“You feeling okay?” he asked as they stood awkwardly between the growing elephant in the car. 

“Me? Yeah, fine.” Rey stared at her reflection in the mirrored coating of the lift walls. “Sorry about Octavia, she’s been burnt too many times to trust strangers like Harker so quickly.” 

“Some tension in the party can make the dynamics more interesting.”

“Poe enjoyed the drama.”

”Yeah, but that’s his thing with Ozsar, drumming up the drama so that there can be some explosive moments.”

Her shoulders, tense from the session, began to relax at the shift in conversation. “Must come naturally.”

“You know what he says,” Finn started.

“‘Born a star,’” Rey joined in. Within the circle of friends Poe had been known to say it and it had only been natural that Oscar had picked it up as well. 

“Hey,” Finn’s voice came softer when he spoke next. “If you need anything, let me know.” 

The doors opened, the white marble of the lobby heralding her freedom, and still she hesitated for just a moment. “Thanks, but I’m fine.”

Finn put his foot in the door, not ready to return upstairs and let the conversation go. “Are you worried about him taking over your role in combat?”

She hadn’t given that a thought. Octavia was a wild magic sorcerer and Harker’s grave cleric magic, despite being rather strong, had little potential to dethrone her as the group bruiser since she doubted most of his spells would be offensive. Squishy and nearly defenseless, however, neither of their glass cannon characters could take a hit. Despite that, in the highlights that she had seen that had touched upon combat, Harker  _ had _ only ever used his offensive spells, dealing nearly twice as much damage as she knew Ysabelle and Ozsar could do combined. That was usually  _ her _ gimmick.

Rey bit her lip, arms defensive across her chest. “Yeah.” It was a half-truth, a half-lie. “Sorry that it’s been bothering me. Maybe with us he’ll pack more healing spells?”

“No matter what he does, I’m sure that you’ll keep being the hardest hitter out of the four of us.” Finn gave a hopeful smile and released the lift door, letting it begin to close. “Whatever he does end up getting up to, I doubt he does anything as subtle as healing spells, that’s for sure.” 

The next week, when they met for their second session together, it became clear that Ben, like Rey, was a min-maxer and had built his character to do as much damage as possible and nothing else. He did not cast a single healing spell throughout the entire battle with the elusive Red Knight nor did he even have any prepared. Ozsar thankfully had a handful of (minor) healing spells to keep them from getting killed while Rey stewed furiously when Octavia was knocked unconscious and Ben had Harker continue assaulting the enemy that was right on her unconscious body. It was obvious that there was not a single thought put towards doing the  _ one thing _ his class was known for. Ozsar had to step up to the plate and, because of the rules that Rose had been implementing, in which going below zero always left your character with a new scar, Octavia ended up with a permanent scar from where the Knight’s longsword had pierced her chest. Not that she wasn’t already covered in marks, but it still left Rey miffed.

Party exhausted but the battle won, Ysabelle began an interrogation with the aid of her Charm Person spell, and was quickly able to extract what they needed before reinforcements could arrive. When discussing what they would do with the then bloodied and restrained Knight, Harker suggested a straight execution. Much to  _ everyone’s _ discomfort.

While everyone else stared, Rey couldn’t allow herself to hold in her annoyance for much longer, biting out a response before anyone else could. 

“Just because you’ve killed before doesn’t mean that it’s the only solution”

She had no idea what to make of his expression. “Do you think the local guards will detain her effectively?” His eyes hardened. “What happens when they take her bribes and free her?”

“We’ve helped the locals before, they’ll trust us if we say she’s dangerous.” 

“What an optimistic, unrealistic line of thought.”

Rose cut through the argument. “ _ Harker and Octavia, you look at one another and soon notice that the Knight, still bound and charmed, is looking at you curiously.”  _

“Harker,” Finn began. “I know you’re used to doing things a certain way but we don’t kill defenseless people.”

It was tense for a few moments but Ben relented, red tongue swiping across his lips. “Fine.”

They brought their quarry to the local militia, though Harker, brooding, seemed less than enthused. 

**#Wizards of the East Coast hashtag on Twitter**

Wizards of the East Coast @WEC

What did you think of that explosive battle between the party and the Knight of Rose? #WEC

hannah @thisshitshowusa

Replying to @WEC

Okay I know this might be... but Harker and Octavia? 💛💛💛 #WEC

🚑 EmEt 🚑 (he/them) @ememem1

Replying to @thisshitshowusa

!!!!!!!!!!!! Hoctavia? Octarker? sounds like Doc Oc and Peter Parker so let’s scrap that one at least

J ⚫🔫⚫@jackattack

Replying to @WEC

Rose is a saint for making combat that a party w/o a healer or tank can fight, specially against a high-level eldritch knight NPC #WEC 

🏳️🌈 Jackie 🏳️🌈@transangerequalstranspower

Replying to @jackattack

did u see how expert she was at diffusing the tension bc of harker and octavia and moving onto the next scene flawlessly? queen shit only 

soma @raffle94

Replying to @transangerequalstranspower

i wonder if they got some real beef behind the scenes? 😬 idk bc i love oct and she’s so feisty but tn ain’t it chief!!!! 

The week following the first sessions consisted of Rose, who, for her part, was doing her best to ease the strain between the new party member and Rey, with texts such as

**[Rose]:** i know that it’s feeling weird but how r you??? 

Pointedly sent to Rey and then several memes sent into the group chat that attempted to make light of the awkward dynamic between Harker and Octavia, or at least place them in the context of simple roleplay. Besides giving obligatory and evasive answers, Rey was listless in the face of trying to give anyone, let alone Rose, context for what and how she was feeling. Sure, they might assume that something was going on, but she didn’t need to expose how she’d flagrantly texted Ben with more or less harassing texts a few days before their first sessions. Not that it wasn’t justified, and not that it hadn’t achieved what she wanted, but it was Rose. And letting Rose down or breaking her heart was the last thing she needed, especially with anything related to Wizards of the East Coast, she had enough on her plate with producing nearly all the content of their sessions.

And so Rey let it be. Or fester, however one might consider it. If she was still seeing Hannah then there would have been the option of telling her, but she had gotten better and the cost of therapy was just one more thing eating into her paycheck that she no longer needed. The issue wasn’t that she couldn’t understand what was happening, or why it was, but just a matter of toughing it out, for as long as it went on, even if that was forever. Rey had spent eighteen years in a system where all her foster carers, despite being volunteers who received an allowance to cover their cost of maintaining her health and safety, had rarely ever felt loved. As long as WEC didn’t go on for eighteen years, dealing with Ben Solo would be manageable and far from the worst that she’d dealt with.

Or, it wouldn't be, if she didn’t keep returning to the texts that he had sent, both in their once-off late-night back-and-forth as well as his occasional presence in the group chat. Staring at them, it was difficult not to wait for the moment that said messages would spontaneously expose some sort of moral defect that might convince the rest of the group to drop him. Nothing did appear, however, with everything seeming more run-of-the-mill boring and even sometimes funny than anything else. The only thing that came close to exposing a long-term plan of his to ruin the WEC was that his texting style was... off in the group chats. From refusing to shorten words, or mostly using proper capitalization, it felt incongruent with the style that he’d texted her in. 

But no one was ever proven to have an evil ulterior motive just because they knew how to use ‘lmao’ and didn’t. Not yet, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tweet style totally stolen / inspired from https: //archiveofourown.org/works/22460983/chapters/53669302 !


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something shifted in the car, as Rey’s mind tried to read Ben’s expression, about what he might think of her after all of that. She hadn’t forgotten his comment at the gala, but she’d had a month and some change to get to know him, to spot anything else that betrayed him as the son of a bitch he had been. Whatever simmered between them felt... raw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love, as always, to my beta, TearoomSaloon both on here and Tumblr! This fic quite literally wouldn't be here without her.

The next two sessions went... better? Though she still avoided looking at Ben for the vast majority of the sessions, and the rest of the party was incessant about putting Harker and Octavia in situations in which they actually had to work together, Rey could breathe easier with how much Ben ignored her as well. She still leant into Octavia’s suspicions to alleviate any real worries from Rose or the rest of the WEC that she actually was anything other than friendly and welcoming intentions with Ben. Tweets about her odd posture, her strange expressions, and apparent dislike of Ben also died down, more and more attributed to Rey’s surge in acting skills. 

In spite of this progress, three weeks later, Rey couldn’t say that she thought about Ben Solo any less, even if she wanted to. She’d found his fucking LinkedIn, privated Facebook that was likely five years outdated, even an ‘Ask Me Anything’ or AMA with him on Reddit when he’d been in the thick of it with VEC. As they’d used an official account and done a verified AMA on the subreddit itself, she could tell very clearly that it was him using a slightly more relaxed tone than she’d ever heard in person. 

Reconciling the man that she witnessed playing Harker with the man that his fans adored, with the man who had so callously disregarded the lives of struggling children was an impossible puzzle that never quite added up to a real person. She could recognize that her view of him was fractured and incomplete, but she had seen enough and-

Fuck. 

She had to get him out of her head. God knew that he hadn’t spared a second thought towards her since her string of angry texts. 

The plot in WEC continued to move along at a steady pace over the next several sessions, even if Octavia and Harker remained at odds and Rey only occasionally looked his way, and only when he was absolutely not looking at her. Despite her initial decision to pointedly  _ not _ look and track what the arsehole next to her was doing, she conceded that perhaps it was worth it to watch it sometimes. Or whenever he was doing something noteworthy. Like taking notes? Either way, to not even spare him a glance gave too obvious a hint of the hostility between them and was getting harder and harder to play off as simply a character choice. 

Ben had been with them a month, she had to try something new. Such as mediating her avoidance of him with frequence glances to look like she was playing the part. She began with watching him roll dice then moved to when he would take notes, even chiming in — in Octavia’s annoyed tone — with what he should write down. It was fine, and even Rose stopped checking in with her; changes of heart weren’t that hard to manufacture after all.

Rey’s new approach to Ben was fine until, well, there was any conflict, like what came two sessions after she’d attempted her new surveillance technique. The session after she began her casual peering and observations of his habits, the party, Harker, Octavia, Oscar, and Ysabelle, had been tracking their most recent lead and were currently on a pirate ship that they had commandeered for a rich benefactor back in Oricos. Tasked with returning the modest-sized frigate, the party was to be rewarded with the location of someone who could point them in the direction of the Crystal Queen, the main antagonist of the past months. 

Although it had been going according to plan, with the ship’s crew either slain or restrained, after said assailants were taken care of, Harker apparently had a change of heart. The ship had originally been stolen by a group of thieves, apparel worn and clearly having seen better days, set on making the party’s most recent source of information, and best lead they’d had in ages, pay to have it returned. And now Harker wanted to return the ship to the same people who they had just humiliated and nearly killed?

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Nearly forgetting to use Octavia’s voice, Rey shifted her posture to ensure that her anger was not transparently hers, staring very pointedly at the space just above his right shoulder. She did  _ not  _ need to be thinking about the way that his eyes tended to lock with hers and how they always  _ knew  _ her, to be looking at her answers that she didn’t have. “ _ Octavia motions to everyone that they have tied up, to the captain dead at the bow of the frigate.  _ These people will murder us without a second thought.” 

Finn’s voice, an octave higher as Ysabelle, chimed in quickly. “We did go through an awful lot to get control of the ship and everything. We’re in no state to take them on a second time and escape with our lives.” 

“These people have done nothing wrong.” Ben gesticulated as if one of their captives was actually tied up in front of them. “Look at their clothes, they’re ratty and tattered and they have nothing else but this ship. And whose ship is it? Some Viscountess whose people have clearly seen better days.”

“What are you saying?” Poe jumped in. 

“That we’re working with the wrong people.”

Rey’s face contorted in disbelief and she heard the damn background tracks — low enough so that the mics wouldn’t pick it up but present to convey the atmosphere — begin playing tense music. Lonnie and Callum, their stream and audio managers, could not read the room. 

Pushing through her annoyance, she managed to keep an even tone as she spoke. “You’ve been with us this last week when we found the Viscountess and agreed to take on her job. You know we  _ need _ to know where the Crystal Queen’s advisor is hiding out or another city is going to be destroyed and it’s going to be on our heads.”

“As if there’s only ever one way to do something,” Ben’s gaze tore right through her. “There’s always other options.”

“Like what?” She worked to  _ not _ look or lean away, to match his intensity, to let him know that she would  _ not  _ be cowed.

“Like giving this ship back to these people and seeing what they know about the Viscountess.” He took a breath and turned to the rest of the party. “If I’m right, they look to be some  _ of _ her people. Did you see how gaudy her manor was? Do you think that she’s taking the taxes from her serfs, from the peasants that labor for her, and doing something that might improve their lives one bit? That she would provide them adequate weapons or protection come an attack or a call for a militia? No, she’s squandering it on herself and barely paying them a second thought. Do you think that if we bring this frigate in that she’s going to use it for  _ good? _ Please.”

Turning to check with the rest of the party and share a ‘Can you believe this arsehole?’ look only to find that they were legitimately mulling over his suggestion. The audacity of Ben to suggest, to even think that all of the plotline that Rose had laid out for them was, what? Boring? To be discarded? And for Poe and Finn to take him up on it?

“You can’t be serious,” she implored Finn. 

He shrugged and adopted Ozsar ’s melodic rhythm of speech. “If we’re really trying to help people, we have to at least consider it.”

“What, disregarding the plan?”

“No,” Finn jumped in. The look in his eye insinuated that he was trying to read Rey’s thoughts despite the fact that she couldn’t imagine how he could agree with Ben’s plan. “It means that we’re considering alternatives.”

“Like helping people,” Poe — Oscar —continued. “People who are being taken advantage of by their ruler.” Striking an overly-thoughtful pose, Poe placed his hand on his chin. “Well, most rulers take advantage of their people in some way, but it seems like the Viscountess' relationship with hers is far less symbiotic than it could or should be.”

“But what about the location of the advisor?” Rey implored. 

“We have that lead in Bannaventa,” Ben interjected. 

A sigh crept past her lips and she looked at her friends, a creeping sense of failure crawling up her spine. Fine. She could go along with Ben’s suggestion, no matter how far it might throw them off course from whatever Rose had planned. 

“Do you think it’s worth it?” she sighed. 

“We’ve had far worse things throw us off course than this,” Finn reminded her. His gaze was so warm and hopeful that she wondered if he realized what it all meant. “But... now we have to deal with the crew and convince them not to kill us.”

“Charm Person?” Ozsar suggested. 

Finn gave a wicked smile. “Only one way to try.”

While she hadn’t quite run from the session, not ready to be faced with another consolation conversation with Finn, she hadn’t allowed herself to loiter any more than she had perhaps done in the past. Or she had tried. In reality, she’d left without looking at Ben or Rose, without disturbing the peace that she’d previously been working to. She’d fled to her flat and forced herself to wait, to calm down, to do something other than immediately text Ben in a rage or implore Rose to retcon what they’d done. Eventually, succumbing to her need for her friend to know that she was on her side, she’d settled onto her bed and typed with the ferocity of someone prepared to fight a caged lion.

**[Rey]** : Please tell me that you’ve got time this weekend to hangout and you’re not just going be planning the whole time

**[Rose]** : ??? why would i be planning ???

**[Rose]** : oh dnd ? 

**[Rey]** : Yeah

**[Rey]:** Everything that happened last session 

The countless plot points that would have to be shifted, rewritten, and possibly scrapped because of them crossed her mind, the-

**[Rose]** : i mean i think i have most of the next arc thingy ready ! 😊

**[Rose]** : nothing i can’t handle ✨

**[Rose]** : do u think i didn’t have to improvise when u guys all went for the ship right away?? 

**[Rose]** : i thought u were all going to the next town over buuuut 

**[Rose]** : don't tell the boys

There was nothing to do but stare in disbelief. 

**[Rey]** : Haha don’t worry I won’t 

**[Rose]** : u gotta let urself live a little rey

**[Rose]** : wec might be big now but it’s still our game 😉😉😉

**[Rose]** : btw how r u feeling abt harker?? 

Sounding like yourself and yet not like what you were actually thinking was something she was getting better at.

**[Rey]** : Octavia still thinks he’s gross

**[Rose]** : and u??

Damn, Rose never missed anything, did she?

**[Rey]** : I think he’s p powerful and dramatic

**[Rose]** : im glad that ben cares abt him so much

**[Rey]** : As much as you care about knocking Octavia unconscious it seems 

**[Rose]** : it’s my job as a dm AND god to both murder and love u

**[Rey]** : In that order?

**[Rose]** : exactly 💀💕

So. Maybe. Ben Solo  _ hadn’t  _ derailed Rose’s plot lines as much as she’d believed. She could believe that, despite everything to the contrary. 

A nameless unease crawled into her mind, settling in the back as she scrolled through Rose’s most recent messages, annoyed at having been the only one to have been against him, and giving more fuel for him to use against her, bubbled up. While Ben Solo was not the villain that perhaps Harker had been in VEC, something compelled her to lean ever closer and listen every time he spoke, to read into his every action, to try and understand exactly why he was playing with them.

This compulsion begged her to message him again, to shout at him for what had happened. And so she took the first step, pulling up their previous messages. She couldn’t get further than the first few and the guilt that came with seeing one’s late-night hate texts washed over her. And still he managed to sit next to her at the table? To have Harker be relatively calm in the face of her blustering and aggression? To have the audacity to be the ‘nicer’ one? To have Harker pretend to try and make friends with her? Maybe it wasn’t an act?

The fuck? 

The traitorous thought echoed in her mind and she wanted to suffocate it, to leave her alone with the rest of her rational thoughts. Couldn’t she at least get the narrative right in her own head? Ben Solo had been a right arsehole.  _ Was  _ an arsehole. Except for in Wizards of the East Coast, when his tone softened and there was something about his demeanor that made her wonder exactly how far his ‘nice guy’ routine went. Poe sure as hell hadn’t seen it, and they’d known one another for ages, but people were good at hiding all sorts of things. She would know. 

Ben Solo didn’t need to make sense, not for him to exist or to be annoying, but despite such reassurance, her mind took any excuse to return to him. To the curve of his nose, the smile lines around his eyes in the fleeting moments that he’d laughed and smiled during WEC, the way that his hair curled just beneath- 

Dread and humiliation washed over her at once as her mind vividly and effortlessly recalled the way that he'd looked at the gala, the first time that he’d properly joined them in a session of WEC, and even earlier that day. Everything in perfect detail, or at least  _ he _ was, with the rest of his surroundings fading out in a blur. 

Rey rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands, willing herself to just stop thinking and let herself enjoy the time with her friends. She’d been an idiot before and would be again, but this was not a man that she had to torture herself over. 

When possible, she threw herself into work with a passion, ignoring the strain that constant early mornings and late nights put on her. Being in the office, dealing with clients, and implementing their specifications meant that her mind could’t wander elsewhere, that she could ignore unease that cloyed at her mind when she thought of playing D&D with her friends, with Ben. Incandescent bulbs illuminated most of her working hours, the droning off office work providing a reprieve from the relative silence — save the traffic — of her flat which gave her too much space to think. 

At work she didn’t have to face the plants that needed to be watered once more, the friends that she’d been too busy to see as of late. How her mission for the last few sessions, to catalogue Ben’s actions and read enough idiodic or cruel intentions into his action that she might convince the others to have him leave, felt cruel to to explicitly address, or to even suggest to any of her friends even if she did find enough evidence. Say nothing of the fact that before that, she’d decided that she could wait him out and that ultimately it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she had forgotten to ignore him, just that... ignoring your sworn enemy was far harder than attempting to keep track of them. Especially when they sat next to you. 

If she couldn’t go back to ignoring him, then staring at him was her next logical solution? What the fuck was she thinking? How had she allowed her social life to get wrapped up in a man that she had absolutely no stake in?

When they all sat down for the next session, Rey took care not to stare too much at him, nor too little; she pushed herself to sense what was natural, what was normal, and not think of him more than anyone else was. Ben, for his part, was infuriatingly amiable as always. Calm, collected, and as Harker, he even managed to spare a kind word for Octavia once the party had gotten to land safe and sound. He still hadn’t, however, managed to cast a single healing spell in her direction, with the few that had made an appearance used to save himself. 

After the game session ended, to prove just how neutral she was to him, Rey took care not to leave the office at the earliest convenience once they wrapped. She loitered behind to talk to their stream and audio managers — Lonnie and Callum — who were cracking jokes in their little booth. Having made her way into the back of the booth so that she was out of their way as they wrapped up, she stayed on the fringe of the conversation as they discussed how the chat had been blowing up towards the end with Harker’s kindness to Octavia, as well as wondering if the mics were well positioned; apparently Ben had a tendency to mumble just out of range. 

Paying little attention to the details of their conversation, she spent more of her energy watching Poe and Ben’s hushed chat at the back of the room. They were out of earshot from Rose and Finn, who were collecting up her laptop, their map, figurines, and dice. There were always so many sets of dice that ended up always getting mixed together.

Rey twisted back to the managers, question flying from mouth before she could curb it. “Is it weird for you guys to see Ben on the other side of the glass?”

Callum, leaning back in his chair, hands over his head, shrugged at the question. “We miss his company, and jokes.”

Lonnie nodded. “Dude has a wicked sense of humor.”

That didn’t sound right. “Really?  _ Ben? _ ”

“Yeah, surprised you guys couldn’t hear us howling like hyenas in here.” 

She couldn’t imagine Ben- well she could, but it didn’t- “I guess I tend to get wrapped up in whatever’s going on out there.” 

“Good on you,” Callum seemed to find amusement in her statement. “I mean we’re used to seeing him play in Villains of the Coast, but otherwise,” he shrugged again. “It’s nice to see him moving on up in the world.”

Lonnie let out a laugh. “From behind-the-scenes, to on the screen, to on the screen again, huh?”

“How else would you put it?” Callum responded.

“Well he finally got his wish.”

Rey couldn’t help herself. “What wish?”

“Ah nothing.”

“Oh, come on.”

Lonnie threw Rey a smirk. “Let’s just say he was looking forward to joining your group than he was to stay on Villains.”

She frowned. “Did he not... like Armitage and Phasma?” 

“They were fine, but I think he just likes your group, how would you say it? Better.”

“And there’s no shame in that,” Callum interjected. “Sometimes you just like some people better than others and it’s nothing on them.”

With all of them nodding in apparent agreement, a short silence filled the space as the technicians mulled over the displacement of their friend. 

“We should get him back in here sometime,” Lonnie decided before promptly taking action to make it happen. Reaching up past the table of adjustment equipment, she knocked on the glass window of the booth, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

A second too late to avert her gaze in time, Ben at once sized her up before he realized who had actually drawn his attention.

“Hey!” Lonnie laughed as she beckoned him over. “Get over here, we’ve not seen you in forever!”

While she couldn’t be sure how much of it that Ben actually heard, he got the gist of it and approached the sound and editing booth. Any chance Rey had to escape was blocked as he entered the doorway and she was still in the farthest corner of the small room. Fuck. She’d been fine in observing him and being a normal today, he could have nothing to use against her, especially in front of his apparent friends. 

“Is there some sort of party going on in here?” Ben’s voice was too fucking casual for the way she was stood in the corner. “Do I need to break it up?”

“Nah, man,” Callum’s voice took on a seemingly perpetually-amused tone. “We just miss you.”

“Nice to hear.” Was he _ smirking? _

Ben made a point to meet her gaze and she could feel his hammer into the back of her skull. Rey did  _ not  _ miss him and had no reason to get flushed at the way he looked at her.

“Are you trying to make us jealous out there?” Lonnie asked, her chair bumping into Ben’s hip as she spoke. “Being with the big wigs and earning all that internet clout all for yourself? What about us common folk? Can’t spare a minute to see us anymore?”

“I just said-” he rolled his eyes but to her astonishment, a smile spread across his lips. A goddamn killer smile. “Did I or did I not just say hi to the both of you before the show started? I would never forget where I started.”

“You say that like it was ever your actual job,” Callum pointed out. “Mr Suit and Tie over here.”

For some reason this set the pair laughing as Ben rolled his eyes in a distinctly amused nammer that made no sense.

Taking stock of the small room, Ben was still in her way and she didn’t need to shimmy past him in the most awkward display of neutrality. And so she remained, stuck eavesdropping.

Thankfully Ben took his leave after another moment of his existence cracking the pair up, with him bidding them farewell and even giving a nod to Rey. She loitered for a moment later in the booth, letting Lonnie and Callum know that she would visit them again, and then slowly packing her things up as she waited for Ben to leave.

She returned to speaking with Poe about something before taking off, leaving her to leave as Poe did. He’d opened the office’s glass doors for her and then gave her a knowing look as they’d made their way down the hallway.

“Come one,” she groaned. “What is it?

“You’re finally getting over your ‘Ben is going to fuck things up’ phase.”

“What?” She stopped in her tracks, brow creasing. “I never seriously thought that.”

“Oh come on, you’ve jumped on him at every chance like he’s been actively sabotaging us.”

“I’ve just been- you know- it’s fine. Just grand.” 

“You might be good at channeling your frustrations or whatever the hell’s going on into Octavia but-”

Starting back up and stepping past him, Rey made her escape. “Do we really have to talk about this?” 

“I was just saying,” he caught up with her and even made it to press the lift button befores he could. “I’m glad you two are working it out.” 

What the fuck? “What?” 

“Okay it might be more a ‘I’m glad that my longtime best friend didn’t turn out to be a serial killer that you all would expose on stream’ thing. That it’s not all going to hell like with-”

“Don’t mention his name. And yes. It’s fine. Brilliant.” 

“Good.”

The sound of footsteps farther down the hallway interrupted the brief silence that followed as they waited for the lift. Assuming it was Finn or Rose, Rey turned to greet her friend, only to be faced with Ben Solo’s classic stare. After giving a courteous nod, she turned, examining the lift’s doors as they opened. She claimed her spot in the lift before Poe and Ben quickly followed, already engrossed in small talk. They stood nearby, although Ben’s height meant that he loomed no matter how far away he was.

The conversation quickly shifted as Poe had the audacity to ask what was next for Octavia and Harker. They both turned and looked at Rey expectedly. She couldn’t tell if Ben’s was more or less intense than usual, or if it was just heightened by Poe’s addition.

“How should I-” she could only be so blase about how rude she was being. “I’ve talked to Rose about it. Eventually Octavia will come to trust Harker.”

“Any idea when?” Poe pushed. 

“Probably whenever Harker saves her life.”

They both frowned at her but Ben took the opportunity to speak.

“What were you thinking?” 

“That next time Octavia’s down and out, he could actually heal her.” 

Something shifted in the car, as Rey’s mind tried to read Ben’s expression, about what he might think of her after all of that. She hadn’t forgotten his comment at the gala, but she’d had a month and some change to get to know him, to spot anything else that betrayed him as the son of a bitch he had been. Whatever simmered between them felt... raw. 

Poe cleared his throat and Ben looked away, leaving her blinking at the fact that the lift had stopped and the doors of the car had opened. She took her leave, with a cursory nod to both of the men, far more eager to be home than to hear whatever the hell they had to say about her.

Re-reading old texts a third time over did nothing to validate her creeping suspicions that perhaps, maybe, just possibly, Ben Solo was not a complete arshole. Did he hate children? Possibly. But he was a responsible and, fuck it hurt to think it, kind D&D player in the same breath. 

She’d just gotten home from the awkward lift encounter and half-heartedly tended to her wilting porthos and snake plant, trying to adjust the line of them on her counter as if it would make much of a difference. She fancied herself with arranging how the pots' different designs matched one another, how rotating them would combat the plants’ lopsidedness, and how much it might improve the general atmosphere of her flat.

Her phone buzzed briefly, drawing her attention away from the flora to see what Rose had-

**[Ben]** : do you really care about harker and octavia or was that just for dameron?

At once annoyed at his suspicions and regretting that she’d opened her mouth, she was compelled to answer. Shifting to sit on the two-seater loveseat that sat at the foot of her bed and gaze flipping between his text and the city that churned with activity outside, she had a myriad of answers that she could give him. The temptation to shoot back a nasty message faded as her shame from her previous attempt at, what, cyber-bullying him? flooded her senses. 

**[Rey]:** I would be open to their dynamic changing 

**[Ben]** : really? 

**[Rey]:** Why wouldn’t I be? 

He didn’t respond immediately, and left on read for a solid five minutes, she began to wonder if she had crossed a line. Again.

**[Ben]** : you had a vendetta at that gala

**[Ben]** : and this entire time i’ve been on wec it’s been fairly obvious that you don’t want me around 

**[Ben]** : i’m capable of playing nice, but are you?

**[Rey]:** I meant what I said back then, if that’s what you mean

**[Ben]** : from eavesdropping? cute 

**[Rey]:** I heard what I heard

**[Ben]** : which was?

**[Rey]:** You were making jokes at the expense of the fucking cause you were supposed to be supporting 

**[Rey]:** God knows why Poe didn’t kick you out 

**[Ben]** : that’s it?

**[Rey]:** Do I need more?

What had she expected? For him to own up to his actions, to rescind everything he’d said so far? To suddenly become a better person that would allow her to tolerate him and perhaps enjoy his company? 

**[Ben]** : you’re acting like you even heard the whole thing

**[Ben]** : i don’t know what i expected from this

**[Rey]:** Fine, what did I miss that was so important?

**[Ben]** : that it’s a fucking inside joke between dameron and I 

**[Ben]** : that’s none of your business

**[Ben]** : what else do you need

The memory, so many times recalled that it had begun to lose some detail, that the specifics faded away to just her emotions and his suit floated through her mind. Poe had laughed afterwards, gripping Ben’s shoulder, but she’d seen it as an act of appeasement, to keep him close for business. Had she genuinely taken a moment between friends out of context? Sure, it had been in poor taste, but it wasn’t like she had ever been or was a paragon of purity and everything perfect. Had she really taken that moment, made it about herself, and then pounced on him in self-righteous anger?  _ Fuck. _

She wanted to ask him if he was serious, if he wasn’t just giving excuses, but then realized exactly how that was still acting as if he’d meant to offend her. Specifically. But he had no idea and here she was already condemning him. Rey could only imagine how he felt about her, if he had even given a second thought to her petty anger other than annoyance. The fact that he’d said nothing apparently to Poe, that he’d still been willing to join the group with her, said more about him than she could comprehend or fit in the picture of him that she’d formed. 

Working backwards in her mind, she began to think of all the times that she’d singled him out unfairly in WEC sessions, had snarked at him with the excuse of Octavia, of either staring at him or ignoring him when she had no real solid reason. Staring at the words on the screen didn’t help the feeling of shame, of second-hand horror that flooded her mind as she realized that exactly how she’d been treating Ben would be recorded for forever, or at least until she died. 

_ Fuck fuck fuck fuck _ . 

**[Rey]:** I’m sorry

Too little, too late, she was sure. Shutting everything out was the most appropriate thing at the moment and so she closed her phone and threw it onto her bed in a rush. The fallout of her own stupidity wasn’t something that she was keen on witnessing, especially if she was going to get rightfully raked over the coals. She took advantage of the work that needed done around the main room, from tidying up her clothes piles, putting some of her shite away where it actually belonged, and then taking a shower. Once out, changed into her pyjamas, and curled under her duvet, she shielded herself from the barbs that awaited her. 

**[Ben]** : was that so hard?

**[Ben]** : i’m not serial killer, either

**[Ben]** : yes dameron told me about it 

**[Rey]:** Jesus

**[Rey]:** We got fucked over last time 

**[Ben]** : i’m aware

What was he hoping to accomplish by still texting her? To lord it over her for what, exactly? Desperate for an escape or something that would turn the conversation from her failure, she recalled why exactly he’d texted her: Harker and Octavia. Character development. Right.

**[Rey]:** We talked earlier about Harker and Octavia and character development between the two of them

**[Ben]** : yes?

**[Rey]:** She distrusts him and I think the only way she can start to fully embrace him would be if he did his job

**[Ben]** : clerics can do more than heal

**[Ben]** : there are over 50 spells I could prepare

**[Ben]** : besides, dameron’s got that covered

His texts filled her screen and she wondered how much his obstinance was due in part because of his lingering annoyance at her — which would be understandable — or if he just hated healing spells.

**[Rey]:** It would be a character development thing for the both of them

**[Rey]:** Octavia is down and out and he brings her back or something

**[Rey]:** He has to prove that he’s not just all talk, that he’ll use his powers for good

**[Ben]** : he already does

**[Rey]:** Personal good

**[Ben]** : i’ll have him prepare healing word next time

**[Ben]** : what about octavia?

**[Rey]:** What do you mean?

**[Ben]** : how will she show that he should trust her?

**[Ben]** : she’s been an ass to him since the start and barely tolerates him

Rey could make the allegory connection without being told twice. 

**[Rey]:** She’ll start treating him like a human being 

**[Rey]** : Being nice to him and not immediately jumping on his case anytime he suggests anything

**[Ben]** : thank you 

When he didn’t respond within the next few minutes, the same nameless unease that had crept up on her in the recording booth found its way back. It simmered in the back of her mind, mingling with shame and the strange new opportunity to actually get to know Ben Solo as a real person. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party was currently engaging a hideout of allies to the Queen, one which acted more like a labyrinth than a practical living space, with traps and strange layouts all about. Unfortunately, when the combat had started, most everyone had been in different rooms and varying distances from one another, with Ysabelle and Harker being the farthest away. They had split the party, which in of itself was never wise advice in a dungeon, but- “You all hear the sound of Octavia shout in pain and then the sound of her body hitting stone in a sick thump. Ozsar, you can see the mercenaries that are standing over her body, and notice how they lock eyes with you. You know that you’re next.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love, as always, to my beta, TearoomSaloon both on here and Tumblr! This fic quite literally wouldn't be here without her.

**#Wizards of the East Coast hashtag on Twitter**

Wizards of the East Coast @WEC

Streaming tonight at 12PM EST as usual! Don’t miss it as the gang enters into the hidden labyrinth! #WEC

hannah @thisshitshowusa

Replying to @WEC

Everyone explaining to me that Me deep in Harctavia.

Harker and Octavia will never be

canon and to shut up.

Jesse 🌈🌸🍰 @catchngs

Replying to @WEC

tbh can we focus on how cute Rose and Finn are and the ways that he’ll help her without us even realize until later

❤️ hot potato maid ❤️ @slyviasly

Replying to @WEC

Not me leaving work early to try and catch WEC live... 🏃🕒 Just for legal reasons this is a JOKE Sandi if u see this 

Jingle @jingleshits 

Replying to @slyviasly and @WEC

Octavia holding her breath forever last session while everyone else struggled to even live 🌬️🌬️🌬️

🏳️‍🌈 Jackie 🏳️‍🌈@transangerequalstranspower

Replying to @WEC

me missing this livestream to go to a family dinner. im gonna die fuk

Much to her surprise, a text from Ben made its way to her the morning that they were set to play. She had been hiding out from her newest client in the bathroom — the gears of progress never stopped turning, one of their managers liked to tout — and scrolling through Twitter when her phone buzzed and his message appeared. 

**[Ben]** : i told dameron not to heal octavia when she goes down today

**[Rey]** : Thanks

**[Rey]** : Does Rose know?

**[Ben]** : it’ll be a surprise

**[Rey]** : It has to be natural though

**[Ben]** : i’ll make it work

**[Ben]** : trust me

The habit to jump on his statements with the presumption of guilt led her to text a line biting back, to remembering the shame that had prickled under her skill when she’d realized just how poorly she’d handled the initial misunderstanding. That, and she really had  _ no _ reason not to take his word; he’d always followed through everything else that she’d seen him do.

Roses loved surprises, right? This would just be one more.

“And that’ll be 20 points of slashing damage  _ as the man’s rapier slides between your ribs with viscous efficiency _ ,” Rose narrated. They were halfway through the session and Octavia’s time to shine, or get knocked out, was quickly arriving. Rey had thrown herself between the enemy, one of the Crystal Queen’s elven confidantes, and the party without a care, making tense eye contact with both Poe and Ben. 

It was freeing to be able to exist comfortably in a space that had previously grown tense, to be able to look at the man for so long she’d been avoiding. Not that meeting his gaze or avoiding his stares were any less difficult, but rather than being tinged with animosity, she wore that there was a friendly look to them. Something new. 

“Octavia is down,” Rey said as she reviewed her sheet. She erased her HP and looked up at Rose, whose expression was unreadable. Finn and Poe murmured concernedly in the background, but she was just waiting for when Ben’s turn would come. Awkwardly, he was just before her in terms of turn order, meaning that she had to wait for everyone else to go, and  _ then _ be brought back to life. The party was currently engaging a hideout of allies to the Queen, one which acted more like a labyrinth than a practical living space, with traps and strange layouts all about. Unfortunately, when the combat had started, most everyone had been in different rooms and varying distances from one another, with Ysabelle and Harker being the farthest away. They had split the party, which in of itself was never wise advice in a dungeon, but- 

“ _ You all hear the sound of Octavia shout in pain and then the sound of her body hitting stone in a sick thump. Ozsar, you can see the mercenaries that are standing over her body, and notice how they lock eyes with you. You know that you’re next. _ ”

The turn order being Finn, Poe, Ben, Rey, with enemies mixed in, Rey sat on the sidelines, listening to the rest of the group roll, mainly attack. When it came to Ozsar, who Finn and Rose clearly assumed would get Octavia unconscious, Poe improvised, beginning with the intent to heal Octavia, but changed his mind halfway through. His excuse for not healing her was that realized that there was only to ‘a one-in-a-lifetime shot’ at the enemy — they’d moved on him after taking care of Octavia — which he promptly took. 

Casting thunderwave, he took out one of them, but drew the ire of three more which turned their attention from Octavia’s unconscious body to him, cornering him within the space of their turns. As of Octavia’s first death saving throw, Ozsar was cornered by the henchmen, Ysabelle was charmed and told to ‘stay’ about 30 feet away from Octavia, and Harker was something like 150 feet away from her because of how the map was laid out. Most healing spells wouldn’t be able to reach her even if he sprinted his entire turn. Finn nervously began looking through his inventory, only to mutter to her that find that he had no healing potions left. 

“You could attempt to stabilize her once you break out of the charm,” Rose offered. 

“I’m doing just fine,” Rey interjected. “I haven’t even rolled yet.” 

Ben took his turn, and true to their conversation earlier, Harker used his entire movement to begin moving in the direction of Rey. Meaning that the enemies still harassing went undamaged, and that nothing really happened to help Ozsar, Ysabelle, or Octavia who were all in rather dire circumstances, all things considered..

Next came Rey, and her death saving roll.

“Wish me luck,” she laughed, picking up her signature orange and red dice and rolling them without too much fanfare. The dice clattered across the felt table and a mild chill went up her spine when she saw that she’d rolled a natural one. “Fucking hell.” 

The sound of Finn murmuring to Rose interrupted her own pity party. “That’s... two failures, right?”

“Yeah,” Rey answered, mulling over what might happen next.

While having two failed death saving throws wasn’t uncommon for them all, Harker specifically, she had never crit failed a death saving throw; she was used to relying on the space to make mistakes in the rolls, to always having more passes than fails. 

Harker could still heal her, especially if he had healing word like he said; once he made it within sixty feet from her, she could pop right back up. More or less.

Everyone took their turns, eyes watching Octavia and all possible paths to her. Perhaps today wouldn’t be the day that Harker saved her, after all. 

Attempting to break the charm that had been placed on Ysabelle, Finn rolled a ten, groaning as he remained locked in an immobile state. Poe suffered most of all, with three enemies cornering him and taking their turns nearly killing him as well, although one held his turn, demanding that the group surrendered or that they would be wiped off of the face of the map. 

“Just to be taken prisoner by the likes of you?” Oscar had haughtily ridiculed the enemy before promptly healing himself for as much as he could and then taking another hit. 

When Harker’s turn rolled around, Rey waited for him to run and reach her, ending the tense waiting game that was better as a stream highlight than to experience. She didn’t need the pressure of creating a whole new character, of having to consider all the new dynamics that might come with it, and to lose the one that she’d put so much of her heart into. 

Except for a dawning realization hit everyone at the table at once, one that meant the end for Octavia if she so much as rolled below a ten: because Harker had been so far away, he had to use two full turns to even get close enough to do anything to help. Meaning that even though he had managed to get to where he was twenty feet away, he didn’t have an action or bonus action that he could use to help Octavia; he would have to wait until his next turn to heal her. All while she was still stuck in unconscious, death saving throw hell. With two failed saves.

“Fuck.” Hefting the metal her dice in her hand with no shortage of trepidation, Rey closed her eyes. “Wish me luck.”

The metal pieces clunked softly on the felt table and when no one made a sound, she opened her eyes. Nine. 

Octavia was dead. Like  _ dead _ , dead. No healing word would bring her back, only some other bigger spell that god knew Harker wasn’t fucking able to be counted on to have prepared. Not that Ben ever had, but now? She’d given him an inch and he’d taken a mile, a character that Rey so loved, had poured so much of her heart and soul into. She’d written Octavia on a whim at first, nothing more than a silly plaything, but over the months, the time that she’d spent with her friends, Octavia had turned into something else, both a reflection of herself and something new, something aspirational. Octavia didn’t,  _ hadn’t  _ cared about what other people had thought, had gotten into fights at a moment’s notice, but was also dangerously compassionate and naïve. She was supposed to go on more adventures with her friends, see the ocean, climb the western mountains, but goddamn fucking dickheaded popmpus bellend of a man-

Trembling. Things were moving around her. Her hands, her shoulders, tears that threatened to spill over but she willed not to. She was being recorded. Rose spoke but nothing registered, nodding dumbly and attempting to school her features into something that was appropriately sad without betrayed just how close to a minor breakdown she was feeling. She couldn’t, wouldn’t speak and let her voice betray exactly what she’d just lost. 

Finn held her hand. Ben didn’t exist. 

People took their turns. Poe passed Ben a note. 

Too numb to feel anger any longer, she didn't care what happened to Harker, just that the rest of her friends’ characters made it out alive, safe and sound. Or at least taken prisoner alive. Fuck. 

“Rey,” Rose’s voice interjected a sense of calm into her mild despair.

“Yes?” Rey blinked, the table coming into focus. The studio lights shone down on them, and her friends' expressions were all a mix of pain and strangely, curiosity. Ysabelle had moved. An enemy next to Ozsar had died. Harker’s mini was next to Rey’s. Fat lot of good that would do her when all he’d prepared was a fucking healing word. Her friend took her attention and motioned to Ben. 

“Harker’s doing something,” Rose explained.

Inhale. Exhale. She turned to Ben and exposed herself to his derision, only to find that he was looking at her more intensely than he ever had. There was? Sorrow? In his eyes? He looked? Regretful? She couldn’t fathom it. And then he began to speak, narrating Harker’s actions.

“Like I, uh, said,” he cleared his throat. “ _ Harker runs up to Octavia, and he skids to a stop as soon as he reaches her, kneeling down and trying to figure out exactly how she got knocked down, killed. He finds the wound that’s between her ribs and places a hand there, channeling the last of his faith in his god, Vandria Gilmadrith. As he does so, he uses his other arm to support Octavia and pick her up, holding her as best he can, cradling her really. _ ” He glanced at Rose for a moment before his deep brown gaze returned to Rey. “He has 300 gold worth of diamonds.  _ He casts revivify on Octavia to bring her back.” _

The fuck the fuck the fuck? 

Rey wasn’t a cleric nor a did she use healing magic, but she knew that as a cleric he had to have his fucking healing spells prepared. She looked over at his sheet, which he’d opened to his spells page; sure as fucking hell he had revivfy prepared, as well as healing word. 

“ _ You watch as a bright glowing light envelopes both Harker and Octavia, you’re not quite who it’s eminanting from, but Oszcar and Ysabelle, you can see it fill the entire room with how bright it shines, just for a second. Its light fills every crevice in the room, and you hear a strange sort of humming that accompanies it, although you’re not sure the source. Harker, the power of your goddess flows through you, bending to your will and your connection to the dead; you easily find Octavia’s spirit and are able to lead it back to her body. It’s only when you’re sure that she’s back that you focus on healing her. As the light begins to dim, Harker, you can feel Octavia suck in a breath and you feel her wounds knit together as she is no longer a dead weight in your arms. You’ve brought her back.” _

Rose looked at Rey as she continued, a gentle smile on her face, betraying the giddy relief that was sure to be hiding behind it. 

_ “Octavia, you’re pulled from a dark, dim place, and breathe in air that tastes as stale as you feel sore. Memories of what happened, your journey to this hideout, fighting the men still patrolling the hallway, to dying by his blade, come flooding back as you gain control of your body once more. Most notably, you’re surprised to see that it’s Harker who’s brought you back, not Ozsar. You’re currently being supported by him and although he’s brought you back from the edge, you know that you’ll have a scar from the rapier that ended your life. You also still feel quite weak, but you are at one HP for now.” _

“As a bonus action, I’ll-” Ben quietly continued before she could even think. “ _ Harker casts healing word at sixth level. _ ” He rolled some dice and she continued to stare. “For twenty-two HP.” 

Incapable of a single coherent thought, Rey scribbled down the number in the correct box.

He’d saved Octavia. Brought her back from death. Even after he could’ve failed and could have left her to rot, he’d saved her, and in the kindest manner that he’d done. Cradling her, protecting her, he was likely considered prone as well, putting himself in just as much danger, all while blowing his only sixth level spell. For Octavia. For her. 

Ben was looking at her again, in that way that had been easy enough to dismiss when she’d lorded her vendetta over him, when she’d been focused on his flaws rather than everything he had to offer. His fucking voice had been so smooth, so soft, so gentle, so caring and it made her want to lean in closer and-

Cameras, all around them, watching their moves, recorded for eternity, or at least as long as she’d live. Her face warmed up at the thought that she’d been so tempted to do something so impulsive and ridiculous in front of everyone, let alone with a man that she’d thought so much about, even if it’d been in anger. That didn’t explain how much she’d thought about how he’d looked at her, about how difficult it was to even look at him without feeling some sort of way, about how many hours she’d been concerned with exactly what he’d thought of her for  _ no  _ reason.

“So,” Rose continued. “Octavia, it’s your turn. What are you going to do?”

Fuck.

They were going to see and fucking know if she didn’t so something right that moment. They would see the red that was bound to be splotching her face and know. She was going to die live on Twitch and there would be thousands of people to clip the scene for all eternity.

Acting. She could pretend it was acting. To save herself the mortifying ordeal of her crush being exposed live on air. 

_ “Octavia kisses Harker.”  _

He was staring at her again, or rather, he hadn’t stopped. Rey gave a grimace mashed with a grin, a poor attempt to implore him to play along, to take their characters in that direction, to act as if they’d been planning it since the very beginning. A tension that came from distrust only to morph into something different, she knew that they could sell that. 

The next sound that filled the room was Poe choking and Finn letting out what could only be described as a dying man’s last breath. 

“B- Harker,” Rose flailed to retain her composure. “What do you do in response?” 

The man in question didn’t miss a beat, expression dangerously inviting as he sized Rey up.

“ _ Harker kisses her back.”  _

And with that, the group took their mid-session break. As soon as the cameras and audio cut, everyone started talking over one another all at once. Rose was thrilled that the characters were moving in that direction, and was surprised the two of them managed to keep it a secret from her for so long. Pointing to several times where the characters had been left alone ‘fighting’ or ‘stewing’ off screen, she began to speculate and guess that was when they intended the romance to begin.

Poe looked perpetually in shock and kept starting his sentences only to interrupt himself and start again. Finn laughed and asked how long they thought they were going to keep the plot line going or if it was going to be an on again off again sort of deal. Ben, for his part, went along with the hell that she’d thrown their characters into, easily deflecting Poe and humoring Rose’s probing. Even Lonnie and Callum made their presence known, cheering on the engagement that had come from such drama, how the chat had absolutely exploded, and the absolute ‘genius’ move it had been on both their parts for setting it up. 

All Rey could do in return was smile and nod, laughing when appropriate, not at all thinking about the implications of exactly what just happened, how easily he’d humored and covered for her. Furtive glances between the conversations, the speculation, and promises to not everyone worry so much in the future with such dramatic actions led to her more often than not looking away as soon as he registered that he was being watched. 

**#Wizards of the East Coast hashtag on Twitter**

Wizards of the East Coast @WEC

What a fiery night tonight! We’re sure that we almost crashed Twitch, but don’t worry, there’s always more to come on #WEC

Jesse 🌈🌸🍰 @catchngs

Replying to @WEC

Not knowing I shipped this shit until I actually saw it in action

Harry @harriet3829

Replying to @ catchngs

Their minds.... Anyway we stan, as always

meatbeet@billymaize

Replying to @WEC

❤️ hot potato maid ❤️ @slyviasly

Replying to @WEC

I might be absolutely 🍃 but wtf was that real can someone pls confirm im not angry just confused

Саша ❄️🤍@sashashow12

Replying to @slyviasly

Mood rn. 

Ben Solo changed, or perhaps, Rey herself had, seeing who he was instead of whatever she’d presumed him to pretending to be. She found that he was in fact, a kind person, patient during the rest of the session, even laughing when Ozsar confronted Harker and Octavia about what he’d seen. He also had quite a few beauty marks and moles on his face, which she’d noticed before, but now took care to categorize whenever she had the excuse to look or speak to him. 

After the session, the group went out for drinks at the place that it had all started, their favorite bar in Manhattan, that although it was only a one minute walk from Madison Square Garden and thus attracted an ebb and flow of people at various events, remained somewhat nostalgic. The music that thudded in the back of their conversations and filled silences was comforting, and she was glad to have something comforting which grounded her new damn crush with Ben. 

The group claimed a table, quickly populating it with assorted drinks, from APA to cocktail mixes to straight shots; everyone’s preferences and then some were accounted for. And of course, Ben decided to sit next to Rey’s end-of-the-table seat, with Poe on his right, meaning that as conversation picked up and paused, she was left with the choice of leaning to her left to say something to Rose, or to awkwardly avoid making unsure and wholly inappropriate gazes at him. 

Despite her close proximity to him and her growing awareness of how inappropriate her feelings were for him, it was oddly comfortable; she knew that he likely had no idea of what was going on and was simply trying to be a good friend. Because that’s what they were, right? Sure, it had only been a few days since they’d worked on their misunderstanding, since she'd stopped outright mistreating him, but the warmth of the smile directed her way was hard to die. And he’d saved Octavia in the more dramatic way possible, but he’d done it, he’d fucking done it and she hadn’t even said a thing yet. Until, at least, the rest of the group was engrossed in discussing the validity of either re-watching Naruto or watching Boruto for the first time when one was in their twenties, or thirties in Poe and Ben’s cases. An avid advocate for the cultural touchstone that it was, Poe kept deflecting any and all criticism that was lobbed his way.

Three drinks in and comfortably not sober, Rey took the moment and turned to Ben who only was half paying attention to the debate as it was. 

“Thank you, by the way,” Rey leaned in. “For saving Octavia. I don’t know if I said it earlier but, it- it meant a lot.” 

“No problem,” his voice was too fucking nice and she wondered if their shoulders would brush.

“I didn’t expect you to have revivify or whatever on you, just healing word. You expected it to go do that way?” 

“Well, Harker has always had that prepared since he’s a grave cleric.” His hand shifted its hold on his drink and she stared. “But no, I thought that I would be able to get to Octavia before she even dropped before zero, something like that.”

“Luck of the dice, yeah?”

“And not staying with the party,” he laughed. The sound was soft and she barely heard it over the music. 

“Well, that’s something we’ll have to keep in mind.” She glanced away momentarily, swallowing her nerves. “About Harker and Octavia, I didn’t mean to spring it on you like that, I know we didn’t-”

“It’s good, we’re good.” Some of his loose curls fell out of place and she was desperately tempted to tuck it behind his ears. “Did you want it to continue?”

“Pretty difficult not to when it was such a hit. There’s already fanart.”

“And you?”

“Hm?”

“Do you want them to become romantic? Something that’s on-again-off-again? Something serious?” 

The memory of their previous conversation about their characters, about what would have to be done to change their relationship, the allegory he’d made, it flashed in her mind before she could even process the connection. No, he wasn’t fucking asking her out. 

“I don’t mind either. Maybe both?” Octavia’s previous serious romance interest had perished several months of in-game time, but it wasn’t like she was adverse to dating, or something more long-term. “Having them be endgame would be fine with me. We could let Rose know and just have them dance around one another for the time being.” Her gaze wandered before it met his, as if somehow she would expose her creeping feelings. “What about you?” 

“I mean, he kissed her back. It feels appropriate for his character to want to stay and make it work.”

Fuck. She’d barely watched anything with him in it and here he was making allusions to some plotlines that she hadn’t the faintest idea about. 

“How so?” she tried. 

“He’s always been looking for someone to take him as he is, is all.”

Was this another allegory? 

“Makes sense,” was all she could muster. 

Poe’s voice raised, a shite-eating yet impassioned grin on his face as Poe looked ready to die from the stupidity that was being spewed. Leant back, arms crossed, and drink fancifully secured in her hand, Rose watched it all unfold from her end of the table. The words ‘cultural touchstone’ and ‘cultural reset’ signalled their descent into another dimension.

“He should have known better than to bring Naruto into it,” Ben chuckled.

“Poe make you watch it as kids?”

“Every time that I came over. His parents hated it.”

“Yours?”

“I was out of the house, so,” his shrug was dismissive. “You ever watch it?”

“God no.” 

“Shame.” 

The absurdity of the situation, of them talking calmly contrasted with the passion that her friends argued with one another, with the fact that Ben fucking Solo thought it was a shame that she hadn’t seen Boruto. Face warm and spirits high, laughter bubbled up from within Rey’s chest and she curled into herself and let it out. Vaguely, she registered the sounds of her friends laughing as well, the euphoria of sharing their joy with another enough to inspire them into action.

Just as she began to run out of breath, she registered Ben’s joining hers, warm and joyful far louder than she’d heard before. It was one of the best sounds that she’d ever heard and as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t blame the alcohol. Fucking ridiculous. 

The night out had been sorely needed, a moment to recuperate and just enjoy time with her friends. And Ben. Well, he was her friend at this point, right? Or..? 

No, just friends. Rey’d fucked up their initial meeting after all, if he’d had any sort of feelings for her, he would have mentioned something after watching her and the rest of WEC playing for months. Unless he was actually a human with a working brain who knew that you didn’t shit where you ate, or where you worked in his case. And now? 

It was the evening before their next session, Friday on a day where she wasn’t absolutely swamped in the office and had been able to flee rather early. She’d been texting Ben nonstop since morning about Harker and Octavia, about what sort of shit they could pull off in front of everyone. Or rather, it had started under the pretense of D&D and had quickly devolved into something that was less and less easy to excuse as relevant to their characters or the game. 

**[Rey]** : So why do you call Poe by his last name?

**[Rey]** : Is it another inside joke that I’m going to misunderstand?

**[Ben]** : nothing that serious

**[Ben]** : just something that we started to do once we went off to college

**[Rey]** : Cute!

The urge to smack herself in the face for such an idiotic response came swiftly, taking its time to spin into regret when he didn’t respond. It was fair, she’d left little room for continuing the conversation, but there had to have been something else that she could’ve said instead other than an underwhelming ‘Cute!’. As her thoughts returned to thinking about the man she’d previously been engrossed in texting, it felt stupid, frankly to think of herself having a crush, especially on someone who was ostensibly her coworker.

He didn’t nor was ever going to like her in return and although she was beginning to legitimately get to know him, it wasn’t like she  _ really _ knew him. Not that it stopped her absolute fuck of a heart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tweet style totally stolen / inspired from https: //archiveofourown.org/works/22460983/chapters/53669302 !


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did you start work in the UK and then move here?”   
> “Erm, no. I was fresh out of uni when I managed to get a contract over here.” He stared and she, for once, couldn’t read his expression. “It wasn’t too hard moving, the visa took the longest, but the worst has been actually furnishing my place.”  
> “You didn’t bring anything over?”  
> Fuck. “Nothing I had back there was worth it, and it wasn’t like I had that much.”   
> “Your... parents didn’t help?”   
> Rey let out an awkward laugh, and rolled the closest die that she could find, a damn d4.   
> “Wait, so you’re like an audio manager?” Rey knew that she was phrasing ‘Media Production Manager’ in the absolutely worst way, but she needed something to-  
> “It that bad, huh?”   
> Silence filled the room as she considered her options.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love, as always, to my beta, TearoomSaloon both on here and Tumblr! This fic quite literally wouldn't be here without her.

There was something familiar in the way that Ben began to operate with her when they played D&D in the following month; with their characters having an odd sort of tension underlying their rivalry, it meant Octavia began making more jokes with Harker instead of at him. Which meant that Ben, despite his stoic and thoughtful expression most of the time, would humor her with a smile and a laugh, even if Harker remained unamused. This led to no end of jokes on her part, which several people Tweeted at her about. Not that she responded, other than liking some fanart of Harker and Octavia — appropriately dubbed Hartavia —and even retweeting a particularly well rendered one depiction of the character’s kiss. 

She also began showing up early to WEC recordings when she realized that Ben did the same. It gave them time to talk about the weather, their work, and gave a small peek into a world that she forced herself to pretend that she was certainly not interested in. She explained her job, working as a greenhorn civil engineer in a firm that more or less disregarded her and Finn’s knowledge or input, except when it was to pawn other responsibilities on them. 

“Did you start work in the UK and then move here?” 

“Erm, no. I was fresh out of uni when I managed to get a contract over here.” He stared and she, for once, couldn’t read his expression. “It wasn’t too hard moving, the visa took the longest, but the worst has been actually furnishing my place.”

“You didn’t bring anything over?”

Fuck. “Nothing I had back there was worth it, and it wasn’t like I had that much.” 

“Your... parents didn’t help?” 

Rey let out an awkward laugh, and rolled the closest die that she could find, a damn d4. 

“Wait, so you’re like an audio manager?” Rey knew that she was phrasing ‘Media Production Manager’ in the absolutely worst way, but she needed something to-

“It that bad, huh?” 

Silence filled the room as she considered her options.

Clearly he was envisioning something where her parents were just out of her life in the traditional manner; she’d let the rest of her friends assume as much, but as his identification with her struggle felt more personal, she hesitated. She’d known Ben for a year, technically, but they’d only begun to talk properly within the past month. It had felt a bit slimy not to tell her friends about her own history as a foster child and bounced around the system, from volunteer home to volunteer home, and yet, despite the two years that she’d known her friends, she’d never felt it necessary. 

“It’s complicated,” she conceded.

“I can-”he raked his hair back with his hand and did her best not to stare. “I can relate.”

No one pushed, no one prodded, they let her exist. It was nice. But now? This sort of confessional that Ben was giving her? How clearly he saw her for what she was and what she’d been doing? The unflinching understanding that even he could offer was unsettling. He didn’t  _ deserve _ the clarification, but-

“Families can be hell, I’ll give you that. But don’t worry about it, you seem to be doing fine, good, without them.”

If fine meant going to therapy for a month only to have to drop her therapist because their copays were too expensive — even though they were within her plan because of the shite healthcare system that the US implemented — then yes, she was doing good. Great, even.

“It’s going well enough.” Rey glanced at the audio booth where Lonnie appeared to be mindlessly scrolling on her phone; the mics weren’t on quite yet. Thank god. “I know that Poe’s not from the city, so you must not be either. What led to  _ you  _ moving here, then?”

His gaze met hers at her continued deflection, but he shrugged, relaxing back into his chair. It was strange to see him more at ease, more like he’d been at the bar, but in the space where he was typically so on top of things and focused?

“Work, space, something new. Away from my family.”

“Is LA really that bad?”

“Yes, and worse.” The office’s glass door opened and Ben shifted into sitting up. “Ask Dameron here about it.”

Poe entered the room in a mild whirlwind, a cold brew in hand as he set his things down.

“Me? About what?”

“LA,” Ben offered.

“Don’t get me fucking started on it,” Poe said before promptly getting into it. Launching. into his laundry list of complaints about the city, from its notorious traffic with a less than dependable public transportation, to the gentrification, to the rent hikes that his friends back there still dealt with, Rey exchanged a look with Ben. He just shrugged before allowing himself to crack and smile. 

The game ran well that day, with few hiccups and no one was even close to dying, which was to be a relief to Rose and the rest. Instead, they spent most of their time shopping about, with the party teasing at Harker and Octavia to buy gifts for one another, which they did in the form of small baubles and trinkets. Octavia received a bracelet that was engraved in Primordial, the language of many genasi, while Harker was given an orange sash that was tied to one of his belts as a reminder of Octavia, whose main color it had long been.

The teasing that followed was light, but Rose’s gaze was lined with a sense of teasing, something  _ else _ that Rey couldn’t place. It wasn’t like anything didn’t go according to plan that session, nor did she mention anything at the end, instead she seemed to find a reason to talk to Poe, which meant that Rey could take advantage of his absence and chat with Ben. For absolutely no reason at all other than for friendship reasons. It went well until he asked her out, or rather, he suggested they ‘get coffee together’ to talk further about Harker and Octavia. 

They needed some time to sit together and chat that wasn’t mediated by texts, after all. 

Just coffee. 

Just lunch. 

Something. Or, instead, nothing, just a meeting. Friends. Alone together. Nothing that she couldn’t handle.

Rey, for her part, suggested the same familiar space that she’d been to a million times with the rest of the gang, the cafe where she’d first been seriously confronted with the idea of Ben joining WEC. Scheduled for the upcoming Thursday evening, she arrived early by ten minutes, securing the table and her regular seat while she fiddled with espresso, considering what they might talk about. Octavia’s main quest had been to find a book of hidden knowledge somewhere, and besides defeating the Cosmic Collision and Crystal Queen, she’d slowly been making progress on it throughout the campaign. It would only take a few more sort of investigations to track it down, and although Octavia might eventually find the book she’d been searching for, Rey knew that it wouldn’t be the answer to all her worries; the world would keep turning and one book of knowledge wouldn’t fix it all.

“Long day at work?” Ben sat in front of her and set his drink down, causing Rey to jump as she was yanked from her thoughts. The din of the coffee shop snapped back into existence and she stared up at him for a moment before speaking like a real human.

“If it was, I wouldn’t be here.” She exchanged a soft look with him that she hoped held the same intention of hers. “What about you, how did your audio managing go today?”

“It’s media production,” he chided, tone gentle. “And fine, no mishaps with the equipment and I continued work on a project.”

“Good.”

“Yeah.”

They sat in silence for an excruciating moment. Did he know? Did he regret seeing her outside of when he was obligated to? No, he invited her out and wanted to talk about fucking D&D she had to get her priorities straight.

“Harker and Octavia?” he offered.

“What were you thinking?”

“From what we’ve talked about in-game, I imagine that Octavia would know more things that perhaps you do right now, or the rest of the party.”

“What are you thinking about?”

From there they dove into Harker’s character backstory, with Ben revealing that Harker had been from an affluent family only to have a tragedy befall them before he was taken into the Cosmic Collision since he was a child and this break from it was his first real chance at doing good, at being a real person. Considering such a background, they brainstormed ways that this would impact Octavia, from her being more protective of him, to being open to inviting him to new things. They worked further and further on the characters dynamic, thoughts of one another, and plans of cute things to do in the session. 

Notebook tucked away in her back, Rey retrieved it from its hiding place and they made sure to write down some key plans. Once Harker’s information was properly noted down, it was Octavia’s turn. She had been from a small air genasi village which had been destroyed only a few weeks before the campaign had started. Looking for answers, she’d found rumors of a wish spell scroll, or something just as powerful, locked away in the earth, and had soon made it her long term goal to reach it and bring her family back.

Both of their characters’ backgrounds on display, she couldn’t help but realize how transparently Octavia's motivation and core character values matched her own. A missing family? Something that might magically bring them back? And then, of course, there was Harker and Ben, which she couldn’t guess at how accurate it was, but still she considered.

She ripped out her page of notes on Octavia and handed it to Ben after they realized that they would have to also roleplay their characters naturally telling this to one another. That could come when appropriate, but at least now they were both prepared and could even think of a more engaging reaction. 

“How’d you come up with him?” Rey asked as he took the paper.

“It took a while, with Dameron helping me.” She’d never heard that Poe had any involvement in VEC before. “We were speculating that one day he might join the main cast so he had to have enough potential to flip.” 

“It was always a plan for him to join?”

“Not exactly, just that it would be fun to have that sort of thing built into him in case it worked out.” 

“What made you decide to-” she paused as she realized how accusatory it came out. “What’s going on with Harker never having healing spells? My bad, by the way, about being an arsehole about it when I first asked you to heal Octavia, but,” Rey shrugged.

“That was more a character choice than anything.”

He wasn’t going to elaborate on it? “What?”

“Harker was, is, more concerned with putting himself in the way of danger, to draw attention to himself.” 

“It. It was you roleplaying?”

Brow furrowed, he bit his lip. “What did you think it was?”

Fuck. She grimaced at another one of her past actions, her stupidity having overridden her common sense or benefit of the doubt.

“Bad use of your class?” 

He gave a weak frown as he exhaled through his nose in, what? Amusement?

“You really thought I didn’t know how to play D&D?”

“I was an idiot.”

“I was on Villains of the East Coast. Who would’ve allowed me to stay there longer than a few sessions if that was the case?” 

“Really, truly, I didn’t have a single brain cell.”

“What did you think I was doing? Letting you die for fun?”

“Maybe?” Hoping to help her cause in whatever way she could, she flashed him a smile. 

His frown intensified. “Did you think I hated you or something?”

“This was after I eavesdropped and cornered you at the gala. And texted you to insult you. You really did have a good reason to.”

“It  _ was _ annoying as hell but not enough to outright let you die doing something that you love.” 

“I mean- I never thought you  _ hated _ me, but-” she recalled how her belief in his possible indifference had been one of her ways to cover for the growing appreciation and fondness that she had for him. Fuck. “But, I don’t know. It was just what I thought.”

“If I ever gave you a real reason for you to think that I hated you or wanted you off WEC, it wasn’t intentional.”

“I know, I know, you’re great, brilliant, really.”

“You mean that?” he asked after a moment of easy silence, his gaze never leaving hers. 

“Yeah,” her telltale blush crawled its way up to her cheeks and she desperately wanted to look away. “Of course.” 

“Good.” 

If she hadn’t been staring so intensely at him, she would have missed the faint blush that colored his typically pale cheeks. He... liked her? Back? Had all the allegories to dating, to the fact that their characters had kissed and were now a ‘thing’ hints that she’d been passing by? Had her own fawning over him been so obvious that he’d picked up on it? Twitter hadn’t, and she knew that they’d be going fucking wild if they so much as sensed a stray look. But she’d been so obvious, hadn’t she? Staring, then pointedly not even acknowledging his presence, then having her damn character kiss his. And he had done nothing but humor her, smile back, make soft jokes at her expense, allowing her to do whatever she liked. That could mean a lot of different things, but in this case, with the way that he was looking at her, with the way that his gaze dipped to her  _ fucking lips _ , there was one answer. 

“Do you want to go out sometime?” The question escaped her lips without a second thought and in the moment that followed, her blood pressure shot upward. 

“What are you thinking?” his voice was even and the look he gave her was killer. He didn’t move.

“A date. That we could go out on a date.” Was she really willing to fuck up the good thing that the group had going in order to pursue a  _ crush? _ Yes. 

All of a sudden the calm facade that he’d been sporting shattered as he let out a breath he’d apparently been holding and raked back his hair.

“Yes, ”a broad smile spread across his face. “Yeah.”

“Oh thank fucking god,” she all but gasped. “You were silent so I-”

“-I was planning on being the one to ask  _ you _ out so-”

“What? You can’t be serious.”

“You act like I wouldn’t be able to.”

“You’ve barely paid any attention to me!” Not true, but it had been relatively recently that the way he’d looked at her had registered as...  _ interested _ . 

“Rey,” he gave her a look and extended his hand across the table. An invitation? “Do you really think that I would have joined Wizards of the East Coast if I didn’t think that I would enjoy your company on some level?”

“Maybe,” she gave a small laugh and researched her hand out to meet his. While his action had been slow and hesitant, his gaze even moreso, she had no scruples about allowing her hand to hold his. She had no idea what it meant or what they really were, but there was no point in being shy when he also obviously was interested. 

His hands were warm, and large, fucking  _ large _ , which she certainly was not thinking about in any way other than that, but also... sweaty? He was nervous. Be fucking Solo, the man who she’d resented for so long, who she had regarded as arsehole extraordinaire, was nervous to hold hands with her. Hands embracing one another, she moved hers and quickly adjusted them so that their fingers were interlinked. 

“Happy?” he asked, voice light.

“Yeah.” She snorted as if her answer could be anything but.

The din of the coffee shop faded into the background and it was impossible not to smile with such a warm feeling filling her chest; the man she’d known for so long, who she’d judged and put walls in front of, he really was just a normal person on the end of it. A man who was genuine, kind, and patient, far more than she’d ever been. Rey soaked in the warm and comforting way that his gaze met hers, how he studied her features, and how his hand held hers. 

“And you?”

His hand flexed and the momentary fear that he would retract it faded as he tightened his grip on her ever so slightly. 

“Very.” 

It was difficult to wait for their date that Sunday, harder still to not look like a giddy idiot every time that she looked at him during WEC. Near impossible that night before they’d met up. Even worse when that date went well, that she really got to learn more about him as an actual person with fears and goals, like that he kept getting invitations from his mother to visit her in LA. Not that she knew the  _ real _ tension there, but he allowed her to poke at a bit without immediately shutting down, which was more than she allowed at first. She was able to talk about growing up, vaguely, hesitantly. It wasn’t that she couldn’t talk about her parents or lack thereof-

No, that was it, exactly, but one date with a very handsome and large man with such soft hair wasn’t going to fix that. Which meant that the date went well, dancing quietly around one another while poking and prodding. She learned that his first kiss was with a girl behind some lockers, that he’d been kissed on a dare. She had kissed a boy who had tasted of meatballs, which quite frankly scarred her from ever eating them again. Sometimes. Not really, but it made Ben laugh, a gentle sound that she rarely heard in the presence of their friends and which pleased her to no end. 

He didn’t kiss her goodnight, which was something, but she tried unsuccessfully not to think too much about its meaning.

The next date was less of a traditional affair and more of ‘let’s go to Poe’s party at his place and blend in with the crowd and talk to one another unsuspiciously.’ Their ‘relationship’ still in its infancy and without labels, Rey was glad that Ben was also hesitant to tell the others; they didn’t need prying or judgemental questions whether it went well or not, but that also meant that at the party, she had to do her best not to ogle the man she so desperately wanted to kiss. It was difficult not to think of, especially when he licked or pursed his lips, almost purposely in her direction. 

The night of Poe’s party, almost two weeks after their first official date, she showed up as others began trickling in, mostly faces that she knew only from their proximity to Poe. They began to fill up the room in droves, but it wasn’t long until Rose and Finn arrived, their smiles lighting up the room. Hugs were exchanged, as well as comments about the view of the water that Poe had in addition to the size of his place. Located in Chelsea, her friend’s flat didn’t make hers feel any smaller- who was she kidding? Her place was a closet, but it was her closet that she’d worked tooth and claw to earn. 

It was warm and welcoming, yet everything seemed to be put in just the right place to appease someone from Architectural Digest if they asked for a tour. Mid Century themes with some wood elements caught her attention no matter where she turned, taking in the size and scope as she did. She’d been there before, both with just her friends and when it was populated with guests, but it never failed to strike her just how impressive he made his space seem.

Her attention was drawn from pitying her studio when Ben appeared at her side, a quiet smile appearing just as soon as she noticed him. The music of the evening was loud but lively, allowing them to drift about, talking about whether they enjoyed the parties or not —Ben, no, Rey, sometimes —their thoughts on the finger foods set out, and what their plans were for the rest of the week. 

As they talked, they took their drinks as they encountered them, Ben with his whiskey and her with a cocktail drink that Rose handed her with the promise of being worth it. It turned out that it was, both strong and flavorful once she ignored the aftertaste of curaçao. The evening was warm, loud by virtue of the attendees droning on in the background, but the presence of Ben hovering just out of her vision made it all comfortable. He laughed more as the evening wore on despite the fact that she  _ knew _ her jokes were decreasing steadily in quality. 

The music grew louder, her steps grew a bit sluggish, and Ben somehow grew even more handsome. Wanting his company for herself, she took his hand and led him to the hallway that led to Poe’s front door. In principle, there were sure to be other guests who would trick by, but when looking for a quieter and more secluded space, it worked. The hallway was brighter than the main room that everyone was crowded into, and the music that filled the background grew duller the further they walked.

“What, are you telling me to leave?” Ben asked, squeezing her hand. 

“Shush,” she murmured, using their linked hand to pull him closer. He was a tower and when her face reached only to his chest. She could bite his collarbone if she really wanted to. The thought made her flush and her thoughts quickly turned to realizing the ease with which he could pick her up Looking into his eyes, he followed her every mood, waiting patiently for his moment. If she was more eloquent, she would be able to think of some way to get him to fucking kiss her. Or she could just-

“You could’ve just asked,” he responded, positively pleased. 

She’d. Said. It. Out. Loud. God fucking damnit. She tipped her head and smiled, her free hand going straight for his hair which was indeed as soft as it looked. She gave less of a pull and more of a gentle tug. 

“Kiss me?” she asked, tone less of a question and more of an assertion of what they both knew. 

Warm, solid, and persistent, his kiss most of all  _ hungry _ all as he leant down and pressed into her with his whole fucking body, free hand grabbing at her side at first, pulling them flush together. She had to work to breathe, sucking in a hot pan before releasing their hands. Newly freed, she used them to feel the broad planes of his chest, his shoulders, and- 

More, more, and more, she grabbed at his shirt and he grabbed at her ass and it seemed that they were in agreement. 

“Your place?” The giddy in her voice was far stronger than she intended. 

“Sure.” He leaned down and gave her one last kiss, more desperate than the previous, causing them to move the nearest wall, her back pressed firmly against it. She met him with equal fervor, it’d been so long since someone just fucking  _ wanted _ her in the way that he wanted her, since someone had seen her, had cared for her, had kissed her like that. It was raw hunger, desire, a want to be seen, appreciated, in whatever way he could get. Rey recognized it in the way he pulled her closer, how reluctant he was to leave the kiss, the way his hand helds even as they left the party. Primal, needy, jealous. Rey couldn’t deny that she understood. 

The night of Poe’s party had been the beginning of their realization that, really, they didn’t need to think about dating. Not in the ‘oh we’re not labeling this’ sort of way, but instead, in a ‘we are absolutely dating and you cannot change our mind’ sort of infatuation. They regularly began to spend the night at one another’s place — Ben’s was larger and nicer — regardless of the hours that their work kept them away. They planned more for their characters, and when that conversation ran its course, they dove into more inescapable aspects about their lives. 

Talking about her life had never been easy, but when Ben opened up about his mother and father, about how he still had a broken relationship with his mom and had never resolved it with his father before he passed, it was difficult not to share in response. His loneliness, the feeling of being alone amidst a sea of others, made her pause and consider if that was what had drawn them together. Sure, he had been attractive, but the way he’d looked at her had never left her feeling alone. And so Rey found that she shared her childhood with him, her emotional neglect that it entailed, and the way that the hunger for more never quite left her.

After two months of avoiding dropping any hints around their friends — despite the fact that she’d practically moved into his flat by then — they realized that they were ready to share, well, them. It wasn’t something that inofitself needed fanfare or celebration, but they both knew that their friends would not let it rest until they knew everything. Rose, for her part, already seemed to know something was up, with random texts asking Rey how she was doing, or checking in that everything was good with Ben in the party. Little did she know that she was going to get confirmation that very next day in the next session of Wizards of the East Coast.

Octavia wasn’t quite rolling death saving throws this time around, but she was down to her last 10 HP and desperately keeping a pack of strange metal cat creatures that they’d discovered inside of a wizard’s hideaway at bay. Most everyone was focusing their fire on the monsters, working to pick them off one by one, but Rey quietly grinned when Ben moved Harker closer and closer. 

It took only one round for him to reach her, now down to 1 HP, and throw himself into melee with the other enemies.

“You don’t need to get that close to cast healing word,” Finn whispered to her left. It wasn’t like Harker could possibly have anything  _ else _ prepared which would of course require him to be right up next to her. 

_ “Harker runs between the enemies and once he reaches Octavia, he casts curse wounds _ , which requires him to, uh, touch her, so.” Rey and Ben exchanged looks and Rey very pointedly did not acknowledge what she knew would be Rose’s growing mischievous smile; Finn and Poe at least had the ignorance of what was to come to watch in quiet rapture. “ _ He kisses her.” _

“ _ Octavia kisses him back,” _ she replied, her small smile spread into one of pure joy as she looked at the man to her side, nodding as he leaned closer. _ “Just like this.”  _

She leant forward to meet him, their lips meeting a comforting and still exhilarating way, his lips warm and pliant as always. She always enjoyed kissing him the way that she could trust that he would kiss her just right, that she could take bride that he was her fucking boyfriend, that he loved her, that she could just hold him as hers in another form of embrace. Her hand found his cheek, crossing his beauty marks that she knew were there before shifting to his jaw, gently pushing back the locks of hair that fell there. She smiled into the kiss as his own found hand her cheek and cupped it, allowing them to have a brief yet impassioned kiss. 

Silence.

And then.

The table exploded in a series of ‘ **_WHAT?!_ ** ’s and incoherent shouts and cheers at the action, and although her eyes were momentarily closed, Rey suspicions of thrown dice and wide eyes were confirmed when she pulled away from Ben. Her partner in crime seemed pleased at the response at the table and even from inside the soundbooth, a smug look on his face that she was sure was on her own, and finally turned to her friends. Rose took the cake by having the biggest grin out of everyone else, her laughter infectious. 

“What?” Rey asked.

Ben leaned forward, his shoulder resting against hers. “Something wrong?”

“Are you serious?” Poe shouted, a suspicious smile on his features that spread as he realized that what he’d seen was real and not just for the cameras or some overly-committed role play. 

“You cannot be-” Finn interjected.

“I knew it!” Rose laughed.

“This is too much. I'm going to die,” Poe decided before Finn jumped in.

“Jesus fucking christ, you two are going to kill us all.” 

“I mean,” Rey laughed, too self-satisfied that their plan had gone off without a hitch to even pretend otherwise. “That was the plan this entire time.”

**#Wizards of the East Coast hashtag on Twitter**

Wizards of the East Coast @WEC

Soooooo... 😳😳😳 #WEC

Porkchop 🥩 **🔪 🔪** @capitalismdeathass

Replying to @WEC

SDJKFHLSDJKFHLSJKLA;SJKLSJDFA;DFJSL;ADSFJFLDS

Anger. @lobsterwithagun

Replying to @WEC

IM GOING TO SCREAM I KNEW IT WTF

❤️ hot potato maid ❤️ @slyviasly

Replying to @WEC

ICONIC NAME ANYTHING MORE ICONIC, I DARE U

Jesse 🌈🌸🍰 @catchngs

Replying to @WEC

WEC REALLY SAID THAT THEY’LL MAKE US STAN TWO STRAIGHT COUPLES AND I’M NOT EVEN COMPLAINING 

🚑 EmEt 🚑 (he/them) @ememem1

Replying to @WEC

I called it!!!!!! Congrats!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tweet style totally stolen / inspired from https: //archiveofourown.org/works/22460983/chapters/53669302 !


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